Stars may add more before Trade Deadline after acquiring Granlund, Ceci

Just because the Dallas Stars made an early splash before the NHL Trade Deadline, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re done making moves.

It does, however, take some pressure off general manager Jim Nill and the organization as the clock ticks down to Friday at 3 p.m. ET, a luxury some contending teams still looking to make a move don’t have.

On Feb. 1, exactly 35 days before the Deadline, the Stars acquired forward Mikael Granlund and defenseman Cody Ceci from the San Jose Sharks for Dallas’ first-round pick and a conditional third-round selection in the 2025 NHL Draft. By acting quickly, the Stars filled needs both at forward and on defense long before the prices started to rise and the pool of available players became thinner.

“I thought we had to get ahead of things,” Nill told NHL.com. “In reality, we couldn’t wait. Because of our injuries, we had to move fast. There’s a risk in doing it that way because maybe it takes us out of contention for a remaining big deal approaching the Deadline. Does it mean maybe there’s another deal I can’t get into now? We’re still looking.

“We’re still interested if there’s a good fit, but we needed to do something at the time.”

In reality, the Stars didn’t have much of a choice, given how banged up they were.

In mid-January, defenseman Nils Lundkvist sustained an upper-body injury and subsequently had season-ending shoulder surgery. Then, on Jan. 28, their top defenseman, Miro Heiskanen, was injured in the third period of a 4-3 overtime victory against the Vegas Golden Knights after taking a hit from Vegas forward Mark Stone. Nill expects Heiskanen, who had knee surgery early last month, to return in time for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in April, if not just before.

Also, forward Tyler Seguin had hip surgery in early December and was projected to be out 4-6 months, a timetable that would see him potentially return around the playoffs, depending on the success of his rehab.

Dallas needed to be proactive to try to address those gaps in the lineup. It did exactly that.

“I needed to do something before the 4 Nations tournament started (Feb. 12),” Nill said. “With Heiskanen and Lundkvist, I lost two of my top six defensemen. I needed a defenseman. And, going back to the fall, I lost Tyler. So, I knew I had some holes and I was getting a bit worried.

“We came out of our organizational meetings in January identifying which players might be available, which teams might be sellers and which teams might be buyers. All of a sudden, we looked at the standings and saw there were not a lot of sellers.”

As a result, Nill said he told his staff a move needed to be made sooner than later, especially since he was worried what the market would look like coming out of 4 Nations, won by Canada on Feb. 20.

“Our guys had played hard, and I thought I needed to reward them a bit,” he said. “It gave us some new life. And, given the injuries, like I said, we couldn’t wait.”

Granlund has come as advertised. The 33-year-old has seven assists in nine games for the Stars after he had 45 points (15 goals, 30 assists) in 52 games for the Sharks. He was arguably Finland’s best player at the 4 Nations Face-Off with four points (three goals, one assist), including an overtime goal against rival Sweden.

On the back end, Ceci has brought veteran stability; the 31-year-old has averaged 20:42 of ice time and has three assists in nine games with Dallas.

“I remember scouting Mikael as a young kid. He was a great young man,” Nill said. “He’s had a great career. He’s so versatile. You can play him at center, you can play him on either wing. He can play with good players and he can support young players. We also have three other Finns on the team, and he knows them.

“I thought he’d be a seamless fit, and that’s the way it’s turned out.”

Because Seguin and Heiskanen are on long-term injured reserve, the Stars have the salary cap space to add more prior to the Deadline. Nill said the market is fluctuating with so many teams still vying for wild-card spots and deciding if they want to hold on to their assets, so a wait-and-see attitude is the best route to take until a desirable player becomes available at a reasonable cost.

“You can never have enough defensemen,” he said. “So, when we look at some of that, we'll see what's on the market. That's probably the biggest obstacle right now is what's available until we get a full feel for what's out there.

“I fully understand the dilemmas some teams on the cusp are going through right now. If you're a team that's in the fight to make the playoffs, it's too important to make the playoffs; to make the playoffs is huge for those franchises. Teams are going to have to make those decisions. And that’s why I think it's going to go down to the wire to March 7. You might have some guys suddenly being put on the market at the last minute because of that.”

In the meantime, the Stars (39-19-2) will continue to go with what they have and have added. They are 6-2-1 since acquiring Granlund and Ceci and find themselves in second place in both the Central Division and Western Conference, eight points back of the Winnipeg Jets.

Dallas hosts the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; Disney+, HULU, ESPN+) and the Calgary Flames on Thursday before the Trade Deadline.

“Sometimes,” Nill said, “it pays to strike early.”