NHL Trade Grade: Dallas Stars re-acquire Jamie Oleksiak from Pittsburgh Penguins

Less than 18 months after trading Jamie Oleskiak, the Dallas Stars re-acquired him from the Pittsburgh Penguins for the same fourth-round pick they got for him. 

It’s rare to see a team trade for a player shortly after trading them. Brandon Saad immediately comes to mind. But the Dallas Stars can now say they traded defenseman Jamie Oleksiak and traded for him in a span of under 18 months.

In December of 2017, the Stars traded him to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a fourth-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft. About 13 months later, he’s back in Dallas, with the return being that same fourth-round pick. So, in a way, the trade never happened.

Why would the Stars trade for him? Well, the news came out not too long after the trade became official. Veteran defenseman Marc Methot will most likely miss the rest of the season. Stephen Johns has battled injuries too. The Stars blueline desperately needed some depth and a guy who could give them minutes. Oleksiak is someone the organization is obviously familiar with.

Penguins Grade

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The Penguins pretty much rented Oleksiak for 13 months. He wasn’t anything special in Pittsburgh, but he was a solid and reliable defenseman. The Penguins pretty much saved Oleksiak’s career. He went from an often healthy scratch in Dallas to be a consistent guy in the lineup in Pittsburgh.

Oleksiak was one of the Penguins’ more physical and imposing players. Losing him isn’t ideal, especially not when the Washington Capitals are physical as heck. That said, the Penguins won two Stanley Cups by skating circles around everyone, not by beating them up.

Now, why were the Penguins shopping Oleksiak? It likely had very little to do with how good (or bad) he was. Justin Schultz is very close to returning from injury and the Penguins needed to clear a spot for him.

Young defenseman Marcus Pettersson basically rendered Oleksiak expendable thanks to his outstanding play. This trade opens up a spot for Schultz’s return and gives the Penguins some much-needed cap space. It’s weird to say this considering how bad Pittsburgh was defensively merely two months ago, but they’ve quietly assembled some nice defensive depth.

Grade: B+.

Stars Perspective

This trade makes less sense for the Stars. On one hand, yeah, they needed to get a defenseman who could eat minutes with Methot out. However, Oleksiak’s at best a place holder because he’s not going to help the Stars with what they really need help with.

Any Dallas hockey fan will tell you they need defensemen who can make an impact in the neutral zone and get the puck out of the defensive zone. The Stars already rely way too heavily on John Klingberg and rookie phenom Miro Heiskanen to move the puck. Oleksiak has a certain skill set which makes him good at very specific things. Exiting the zone isn’t one of them.

There’s also the issue of Oleksiak’s contract. He has two years remaining on his deal that he signed this summer with the Penguins. Oleksiak’s annual cap hit is $2.1375 million. He’s a good player in the right role. However, Oleksiak is at best a bandaid. He’s a perfectly fine player who can cover up a few minor flaws, but he won’t address the things that really need to be addressed with the Stars blueline.

Grade: C+.