Dallas Stars Trade Sergei Gonchar To Montreal Canadiens

The Dallas Stars announced today that they have traded the rights to defenseman Sergei Gonchar to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for forward Travis Moen.

Sergei Gonchar has been a member of the Dallas Stars since the offseason before the 2013-2014 regular season. In the 13-14 campaign, he registered two goals and 20 assists along with a -12 rating through 76 games with the Stars, by far the lowest of any Stars defensemen. The playoffs were no better, as he did not manage to tally a single point and finished with a -3 rating. Gonchar turned 40 last April and has struggled to find and exploit his skills since the move to Dallas. Many Stars fans have been waiting for Gonchar to be traded or bought out of his contract, and they finally get their wish. Gonchar has only played three games this season after a nagging ankle injury benched him for the beginning of the year. He has tallied one assist and a -1 rating. Gonchar was a piece of a struggling and atrocious Dallas Stars defense that needs to find answers fast before all hope is lost. The Stars had eight players on their roster to fill the six defensive spots before Gonchar was traded, and all but one were left-handed.

Travis Moen has played with the Canadiens for the past five seasons and was working on a sixth until he was traded today. He registered 12 points in 65 games with the Habs last season and played in four playoff games without doing anything on the stat sheet. Moen has played 10 games so far this season and has nothing in his statistics besides four penalty minutes. He turned 32 a week before Gonchar last April and has seen a couple different teams in his 11 years of service.

Gonchar has one year left on his contract he signed with the Dallas Stars, earning $5 million a year through two years. The Stars retained eight percent of that salary when they made the trade today.

Moen is signed through the 2016 season at $1.85 million per year.

Sergei Gonchar had to waive his no-trade clause in order for the trade to be processed. He has apparently been looking to be traded since this past summer. He gave the Dallas Stars his best wishes today and thanked all the fans for their support. He was Valeri Nichushkin’s mentor over the past year, seeing that they are both from Russia.

The Dallas Stars will clear about $3 million in cap space with this trade, leaving an opening for another possible move by Nill, though he has stated that this trade was simply to give younger defensemen in the system a chance and to “figure out what we have internally.” That does not mean another trade is nixed, but it may be a little while.

The Dallas Stars have struggled on defense this year, with all six defensemen being left-handed. John Klingberg was called up Sunday and should prove to be a counteraction to that problem. Their main necessity is energy and focus, and it is a problem that has plagued them to lose seven straight games. With Gonchar gone, the Stars will be able to give younger defensemen chances as well, to see if their skillset can be of value to the team.

Moen will come in and help out on the penalty kill, something the Stars have severely struggled at over the past few games. He is a physical, fore-checking left winger, and loves to go for the puck using physicality. Moen will wear #27 and could be ready to debut in green as early as Thursday night when the Dallas Stars travel to Los Angeles to take on the Kings.

Overall, good trade. Freeing up cap space, especially that much, is always a good idea, and the prospects will finally get their chance to prove if their skills are good enough for the NHL. Gonchar is happy, Moen is glad to have a fresh start, and everything works out. Jim Nill, you continue to prove your intelligence. Now, whether he makes another move is the question.

Quotable:

Travis Moen:

“Anytime you’re not in the lineup, you always question, wondering what’s coming down the road. Obviously, this year I just wanted to play hockey and help my team. It was hard being in and out of the lineup, so obviously when something like this happens, you look back and aren’t too surprised, that’s for sure.”

“I’ve heard nothing but great things from past players playing for Dallas, and some of the current players playing there say nothing but great things about Dallas as a city and the organization. It’s a first-class organization and looking forward to getting there and fitting in.”

Sergei Gonchar:

“I’m going to play in one of the great hockey cities, and that’s fantastic. I didn’t fit in here, so this is an opportunity for me to go and see if I fit in there. It’s a great team and a great city and I might have a chance to play for the prize.”

Jim Nill:

“We have young defensemen knocking on the door. You saw that we brought Klingberg up, and he’s been very dominant playing down there and playing well. Oleksiak needs playing time, Jokipakka has shown he can play in the league. We’ve got some good young kids coming up, and you just have to open up some ice time for them.”

Lindy Ruff:

“You get a player because it wasn’t working out there. He’s a character guy, he’s got a physical side to him. I think he can help us in the physical side of it. He’s been a winner, he knows what it’s like to play out here. I’m excited to get him.”

“Sergei was first class. He gave me a lot of help with Val (Nichushkin). The reason he has been in this league for so long is because of the way he handles himself. It didn’t work out for us, but I wish him nothing but the best. He’s a terrific person and I hope he goes to Montreal and plays well.”

“It should make that group hungrier and more accountable. Young guys who are fighting for ice time, it will be easier to get those young guys to get some ice time.”

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