At the NHL Draft on Sunday, Dallas Stars general manager make a "swing for the fences" decision when Dallas selected Russian prospect Valeri Nichushkin with the 10th overall pick of the first round. In so doing, he opted for maximum upside over potentially safer options.
Turns out Nill was just getting started. Earlier today, the Stars completed a blockbuster trade with the Boston Bruins. Dallas received Tyler Seguin, veteran Rich Peverley and minor league defenseman Ryan Button. In return, Dallas sent two-way forward Loui Eriksson, young right winger Reilly Smith, power forward prospect Matt Fraser and 20-year-old defense prospect Joe Morrow (acquired by Dallas from Pittsburgh in the Brenden Morrow trade earlier this year).
Seguin, the second overall pick of the 2010 NHL Draft, still has superstar offensive potential at age 21 and has compiled 99 points (45 goals, 54 assists) in the last two seasons. The acquisition, however, is not without risk. Boston allegedly made him available in trade because of maturity issues. He fell out of favor and played a markedly reduced role during Boston's playoff run.
With the 27-year-old Eriksson, there is no doubt about on-ice or off-ice maturity or his ability to play both sides of the puck. Often ranked among the NHL's most underrated players, Eriksson is coming off a bit of a down year in the lockout-shortened season but is ordinarily reliable for about 28 goals, 70 points and strong backchecking support. He can play in any game situation and thrive. However, Eriksson is in the prime of his career and is good as he's ever going to be. Seguin has only scratched the surface of his potential.
The Stars have been high on Smith's potential for a few years, and Fraser has been a fine scorer at the AHL level but has not yet found a regular role in the NHL. Peverley has been a good supporting cast player for the Bruins, but the soon to be 31-year-old had a better all-around season in 2011-12 than he did in 2013. Peverley can take on a similar role with Dallas right away.
Another piece of consummating the deal saw the Stars accepting a lesser defense prospect than Morrow, who was Pittsburgh's 1st-round pick in the 2011 Draft. The 22-year-old Button has split the last two seasons between the AHL and ECHL.
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