Due to their 3-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night time, the Dallas Stars took a commanding 3-1 collection lead of their second-round playoff collection and are only one win away from their third consecutive Western Convention Last look. For a lot of the first two rounds, their large trade-deadline addition, Mikko Rantanen, has been carrying the offense.
However for as nice — and dominant — as Rantanen has been, he’s not the one midseason addition who’s making a big effect for the Stars this postseason.
Veteran ahead Mikael Granlund, acquired in a commerce with the San Jose Sharks, can be having an incredible postseason.
He performed his greatest recreation of the playoffs in Tuesday’s win, offering the entire offense by recording a hat trick.
Along with his three targets on Tuesday, Granlund is now as much as 4 targets and 7 complete factors in 11 playoff video games, whereas bringing his Dallas totals (together with common season) to twenty-eight complete factors (11 targets, 17 assists) in 42 video games.
It isn’t fairly the identical stage as what Rantanen or a number of the Stars’ different prime gamers have accomplished, however it’s nonetheless a big impact from a secondary scoring perspective.
It also needs to be thought-about a really nice shock for the Stars.
Dallas paid a big value to amass him, sending a first- and third-round choose to the Sharks for Granlund and defenseman Cody Ceci. Not solely is Granlund a pending free agent after this season, however there was some reliable concern that a few of his scoring manufacturing in San Jose was a little bit of a mirage.
Despite the fact that he had led the Sharks in scoring in every of the previous two seasons, there have been some severe crimson flags together with his play. For one, he was getting probably the most minutes and largest offensive function for a nasty workforce that had few scoring choices. Someone needed to get the factors for the Sharks. Granlund had proven important indicators of slowing down in his profession earlier than arriving in San Jose, and there was good purpose to consider he was simply feasting on favorable offensive conditions.
He additionally was not a lot of an impression participant defensively.
In brief: There have been some potential flaws, and given the worth the Stars paid, it might have been an acquisition that rapidly went sideways for them.
However together with his efficiency on Tuesday — and since arriving in Dallas — he has silenced plenty of the doubters. He will not be a top-line participant, however the Stars don’t want him to be. They’ve these — loads of them. They only wanted one other veteran ahead to have the ability to present some secondary and complementary scoring. He’s giving them that, and on Tuesday, he was the distinction in a pivotal recreation in a collection in opposition to the NHL’s Presidents’ Trophy-winning workforce.
There’s nonetheless a protracted option to go within the playoffs, however it’s simple to say the Stars had been the large winners of the NHL commerce deadline. Their two greatest additions are successful video games all by themselves.
