Rangers winger Mats Zuccarello sat out on Saturday against the Devils (alongside Kevin Hayes and Adam McQuaid), and for good reason. The forward was traded to the Stars on Saturday for conditional second and third-round picks, per TSN's Darren Dreger. For the Stars, the trade came at the ideal time after they were shut out by the Hurricanes on Saturday.
The Stars find themselves leading the wild card race in the Western Conference with 65 points, but the gap there is tight. Five teams below them have 60-plus points, so they don't have much margin for error in the home stretch of this season.
There's a good chance Zuccarello will play alongside Radek Faksa on the Stars' second line as Jamie Benn continues to start at left wing. Zuccarello brings 11 goals to the Stars' forward corps, and a change of scenery may do him some good after playing on the rebuilding Rangers this year.
Zuccarello, a free agent after this season, is joining a Stars team that has gotten quite a bit of production out of its role players so far this season. If he meshes into their system, he could end up being a big addition for Jim Montgomery, who has adapted well.
His 11 goals immediately put Zuccarello at fourth on the team, so they need the scoring help. And for the Stars, only giving up second and third conditional picks with what the Blue Jackets have done to get Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel is a small win in and of itself.
