Top Trades in Stars History

Best Trades in Franchise History

by Scott Rozsa
srozsa1@swbell.net

Watching Mike Ribeiro and Stephane Robidas play against the Montreal Canadiens, the franchise that originally drafted them, and thinking how little the Stars gave up to get those cornerstones of their roster, I began grinding away to think of the best trades in Dallas Stars history. Are there any other trades that were as big a fleecing by Dallas as these two?

As a matter of fact, there are some that are even more one-sided than the Ribeiro or Robidas deals. As my Christmas gift to you, I give you the Top Trades in Dallas Stars History:

1. Stars acquire Sergei Zubov from Pittsburgh for Kevin Hatcher. Seriously. This happened. Zubov amassed 549 points in his twelve seasons with Dallas, three All-Star selections, a Stanley Cup and innumerable Gary Oldman comparisons. Hatcher only played five seasons after the trade and fell in to a well.

2. Stars acquire Guy Carbonneau from St. Louis for Paul Broten. The Broten name carries sizable weight in Stars franchise history, unfortunately for Paul it was his brother Neal that established that notoriety. As we all know, Carbonneau can essentially be credited with creating the winning culture around the Stars while Broten played just 17 games after the trade and was out of the league.

3. Dallas acquires Mike Ribeiro and a 2008 6^th round pick for defenseman Janne Niinimaa and a 2007 5^th round pick. Ribeiro has led the Stars in scoring in three of his four seasons here while Niinimaa is currently playing for something called HV71 in the Swedish League.

4. Stars originally acquire Stephane Robidas from Atlanta for a 6^th round draft choice in 2002. They later sign him as a free agent after the lockout when it appeared no other franchise was interested. Robidas was an All-Star last year and has been the Stars best defenseman since Sergei Zubov left.

5. Stars acquire Kari Lehtonen from Atlanta for Ivan Vishnevskiy and a 4^th round pick. It may seem a little early to rank this trade with the others, but the way Lehtonen has played so far this season, and the realization that he is still just 27, combined with the fact that Vishnevskiy hasn't even played an NHL game since the trade, make this swap a heist in favor of the Stars.