We have entered the last final few days as the NHL trade deadline quickly approaches on Monday at 5 pm ET. And well, it was a busy day for the Dallas Stars on Saturday as the team acquired Ben Lovejoy, played the Carolina Hurricanes and then made a possible final transaction before the deadline approaches in acquiring Mats Zuccarello.

Dallas Stars trade Connor Carrick and a third-round pick for Ben Lovejoy

Connor Carrick was acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs for a seventh-round pick right before the season was underway. The move made sense as Dallas was scrambling to fill the blueline with Stephen Johns and Marc Methot dealing with injuries. Gavin Bayreuther and Dillon Heatherington had some preseason buzz around their names but ultimately showed to need more time down in the AHL.

Originally, the Stars were the big winner of that trade as Carrick was able to slot in and produce from the get-go. Unfortunately, that wasn’t long-lived as the defenseman broke his ankle and would be sidelined til late December.

Ever since returning from his injury, Carrick hasn’t quite gotten back up to speed. He simply wasn’t the same and was all too inconsistent. That and with the trade to re-acquire Jamie Oleksiak and then the move for Taylor Fedun, it became a crowded blueline again, but contrary to the beginning of the season he played himself out of a spot.

Ben Lovejoy is, meanwhile, similar to Roman Polak in that he won’t produce much offensively but is a good stay at home defender. With a majority of this Dallas defense being offensive-defenseman, sometimes that gets taken advantage of as in the past few weeks it seemed they have been getting caught in the offensive zone and not able to get back to defend a rush.

The Stars’ blueline has been a little bit weary in the past couple of weeks giving up more quality chances and giving up clean looks on Anton Khudobin. Down the stretch, it will be key for the defense to hone in and clean up to help out Ben Bishop and Khudobin around the net.

Most of all, Lovejoy will help bolster the Stars’ penalty kill down the stretch and will provide Dallas with an experienced defender who knows what it takes to win in these last few months. This is what Dallas needs as the Stars, in recent years, have dropped off of the map down this final stretch.

Lovejoy will bring depth to the Dallas blueline that should look to be a little bit more consistent compared to Julius Honka or Carrick. That and his big frame and defensive style should help Dallas clean up their play around the crease to ease the goaltender’s job, which Dallas has struggled with recently.

Dallas got rid of an inconsistent defenseman struggling to come back from injury for a consistent defenseman that can play major minutes. Add into the mix that Lovejoy brings in veteran help that is always needed down the stretch to help others learn how to win.

In my mind, that’s a win. Dallas’ defensive play has been inconsistent and Lovejoy will help clean up.

Although, the offense has been wearier than the defense and after this trade, I think everyone was screaming in how the fix should come on offense. we need to fix the offense. And then we played the Carolina Hurricanes which highlighted just that.

Saturday shutout highlights imminent issues needing addressing at NHL Trade Deadline

The Stars mustered up only 10 shots on goal through two periods and while the third had some more 5v5 chances, it was too little too late as they got shut out 0-3 to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Carolina pressured the Stars early and won the 5v5 play. Meanwhile, Dallas could only muster the ability to push the Canes when they had the man advantage. Poor possession and passing in the neutral zone caused the Stars to spend very little time in the offensive zone through the first two periods.

Other than the power play, the Stars’ offense was non-existent through two periods of play. And even with the power play chances, the Stars squandered each one as their shots were off and inconsistent as Curtis McElhinney only had to make two power-play saves.

The third period, however, McElhinney had to make some good saves as the Stars upped their chances towards the net. However, Dallas couldn’t find the code to break open the safe and were shut out yet again. Half of the Stars’ shutouts this season have in the last five games, throwing up six blank scoresheets in total this season.

Usually, poor offensive play doesn’t follow the Stars past the first frame as the middle period is Dallas’ best; Carolina kept the pressure on to take Dallas down and out early. The Hurricanes tallied a goal in each period including a power-play goal in the middle.

Both the offense and defense have been struggling recently. Dallas addressed the defense with Lovejoy but continue to work away through Saturday to attempt to make amends offensively.

and with bringing in Lovejoy and now Zuccarello will add veteran help to shake things up to push Dallas down the stretch to avoid games like this.

Dallas sends second and third round picks for Mats Zuccarello

Andrew Cogliano was brought in to shake things up offensively and has done so slightly introducing a new pace to the team’s offense. Although Cogliano helped, he has proven to not be the lone answer as the offense has remained largely stagnant and in need of a shake-up, highlighted but yet another shutout Saturday.

And while many clamored for the need of an offensive addition amid another blank scoresheet, the team was working diligently away to address that very thing.

Mats Zuccarello, much like Cogliano, will bring speed and help Dallas to push their quicker pace. Zuccarello has great offensive abilities and will be able to slot in at even strength as well as on the power play. He is a top-six forward that will look to shake things up within the lines and bring some scoring to a lackluster forward group in Dallas.

The 31-year-old winger has 37 points on this season (26 assists and 11 goals). Besides the top three for Dallas, no other forward or defenseman on Dallas’ roster has as many points as Zuccarello. The closest is John Klingberg with 29 points and the closest forward is Jason Spezza with 24 points.

Meaning Zuccarello will look to bring in points for this team outside of the Stars’ top-line. The winger will bolster the Stars’ lackluster depth with scoring while also looking to bring speed and puck control into the offensive zone, something Dallas desperately needs after the bitter loss to Carolina.

Adding a forward was easily the Stars’ biggest need coming to the deadline. I don’t mind throwing in a draft pick here because it shows that Dallas is willing to push to make something happen. Not only that, but the Stars have struggled in recent years with drafting and developing that young talent so giving up a pick for immediate help is perfectly fine.

Zuccarello was a fan favorite for the New York Rangers and will have no trouble swaying the crowd in his favor in Dallas. Well, that is as long as Zuccarello can provide scoring and something different for Dallas. Otherwise, he will drop into the muck of forwards having trouble pushing this team up in the standings.