Dallas Stars: Assessing Andrew Cogliano’s Impact Following Trade
By Josh Clark
One month ago, Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill made his first big move of the 2018-19 trade season. So, now that Andrew Cogliano has 31 days in Victory Green under his belt, how has he impacted the team as a whole? And was it a worthwhile trade overall?
When the Dallas Stars dropped a 3-1 loss to a struggling St. Louis Blues team to open up a six-game homestand back on Jan. 12, the writing was on the wall: the Stars needed help.
Dallas was 3-3-0 to start the month of January, had scored a measly six goals in their previous four contests, and were losing points to teams sitting at the bottom of the NHL standings. The Stars’ struggles were being pushed into the spotlight as they inched closer to the playoff wall in the Western Conference.
And after Erik Condra became the only Star to find the back of the net in the first game of their long homestand, it was clear that something needed to happen. Anything.
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And so, general manager Jim Nill went to work. The Stars needed some sort of spark to keep them alive and kicking in the postseason race, and they just weren’t getting it with what they had.
24 hours later, he came up with an answer: a trade with a struggling Anaheim Ducks team also in need of a spark. And so, the Stars sent Devin Shore to the Ducks in exchange for Andrew Cogliano.
The player-for-player deal was quickly negotiated on Sunday night and formally announced on Monday morning.
The move was clearly needed for both clubs. The Stars needed some sort of help on the offensive side of the puck to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Ducks, meanwhile, were still in decent playoff position but had lost 11 games in a row (0-7-4) and needed a shakeup.
Sometimes, those kinds of trades are necessary for certain organizations. While it may not be a blockbuster deal, getting a new player in the locker room can have a lasting impact for a team in need of a new look.
And so, the Dallas Stars brought in the 31-year-old veteran forward and immediately inserted him into the lineup.
That was one month ago. While it can be difficult to judge which team wins a player-for-player trade in mid-January as soon as it happens, one month of action can help clear up the picture. So, what has happened in that time period? How has each player performed? How have the teams been impacted? Did the Stars get better by adding Cogliano?
Let’s look into it.