Looking Back: Neal and Niskanen Traded For Goligoski

On February 21, 2011 the Dallas Stars traded forward James Neal and defenseman Matt Niskanen to the Pittsburgh Penguins for defenseman Alex Goligoski.

NHL Contracts Involved

Alex Goligoski- 3 years at $5.5 million; James Neal- 2 years at $5.75 million; Matt Niskanen- 2 years at $3 million

Looking Back on Dallas

At the time of the trade, James Neal and Matt Niskanen were not the players we see today. They were younger, and that being the case, still developing. James Neal had shown the ability to put up points with 55 in 2009-10, and was on his way to a similar showing before being included in this deal.

Matt Niskanen was largely inconsistent, as is the case with many defenseman in their early twenties. He had only registered 6 points (all assists) before the trade. The year prior he only had 15 points and was -15. This was a considerable drop off from the 35 points he put up in 2008-09. In his rookie campaign of 2007-08 he had 28 points and was +22. In a game that largely places value on the present, Niskanen was not good enough and appeared to be in decline.

While both Neal and Niskanen showed promise at times with Dallas, the kind of attention this deal gets is at least in part based on what kind of players these two became outside of the Stars organization. Neal was a first-liner in Dallas but he went through scoring dry spells at times. Niskanen was part of the mediocrity Dallas was looking to get away from as they rebuilt under former GM Joe Nieuwendyk. Both excelled in their time with Pittsburgh, but it is important to remember the story was much different when they actually played in Dallas.

From Dallas’ perspective, Goligoski was an established defenseman who could put up points while limiting turnovers. He has largely done just that since arriving to the Stars. Other than the occasional slow start, he has been a really good example of how a solid positional defenseman can stabilize a team’s blue line. Goligoski does not make too many mistakes and manages to put up a decent point total every year. On top of this, Goligoski has never had a +/- rating below 0 to end a year. Since joining the Stars, Goligoski has 121 points with a +9 rating in 236 games played.

Looking Back on Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh was decimated by injuries at the time this trade took place. In fact, more than half of the goals the team had leading up to the trade were from players not in the lineup due to injury. With Crosby’s concussion problems at their worst, it was important for the Pens to look to replace some of that production. Pittsburgh’s then GM Ray Shero saw a big upside to Neal’s game, and thought Evgeni Malkin was a good candidate to help him achieve loftier goals. Shero said that this trade “had not a lot to do” with injuries, and that may have been true. It is feasible that he saw Neal’s style as a great fit for Pittsburgh going forward and did not expect major production right out of the gate. Neither Neal nor Niskanen had a very good year with Pittsburgh and yet the team managed to finish fourth in the East. It wasn’t until 2011-12 that Neal would put up 81 points. So, perhaps Shero was thinking more long term rather than reacting to a slew of bad luck with injuries. At least that’s how things worked out.

In his time with the Pens, Alex Goligoski provided Pittsburgh with scoring depth from the blue line and played around 20 minutes a night. Before being traded, Goligoski had already put up 31 pts in 60 games. He won a Stanley Cup with the team in 2009, but was not a guy that the team’s success hinged on. On a team loaded with talent like Pittsburgh was at that time, Goligoski did not stick out as a top player or even a mainstay. That said, as a defenseman that could move the puck he had high trade value.

With James Neal as part of the package for Goligoski, Shero bet on Niskanen benefitting from a change of scenery in terms of his production and overall play. Shero also bet on Neal developing into a guy the Pens could rely on for points. These were good bets to make. Niskanen turned his game around and James Neal solidified the offensive skills he has today.

Neal had some good years in Pittsburgh and ended up with 184 points in 199 games. During his time with Pens, Neal became a premier goal scorer. If it weren’t for injuries and suspensions limiting his games played he could have done even more.

Niskanen found his stride while playing with the Penguins. He started putting up points like he did in his first years in the league, and was a +33 in 2013-14. In 214 games played with Pittsburgh Niskanen had 85 points and was +44. This made him one of the most widely sought after free agent defenseman last summer.

If Shero was planning for the future, what he most likely was not planning on is how little time Neal and Niskanen spent in Pittsburgh. Both Niskanen and Neal are out of Pittsburgh four years after the trade. No Stanley Cup was won during that time. Ultimately, this deal landed Pittsburgh Patric Hornqvist after Neal was traded to the Predators this past offseason.

The Winner: Dallas

Dallas wins this trade for a variety of reasons. Dallas has gotten marginally better with Goligoski on their blue line. He has become one of the Stars’ best defenseman and is a leader on the team. Goligoski’s accomplishments, however, are not what win this deal for Dallas. What wins this deal for Dallas is how Pittsburgh managed to lose in this deal. James Neal and Matt Niskanen are two players many teams would love to have. To have them together on a team would be a really good thing. Maybe Niskanen is a little overrated and benefitted from having a tremendous team in Pittsburgh. Even if that was the case, he is a good enough player to step in and get things done when he has the team to do it. James Neal is one of the most gifted goal scorers in the league. However, neither of them play for Pittsburgh any longer. The goal, since Pittsburgh won their last Stanley Cup in 2009, has been to win another Stanley Cup. Neal and Niskanen were players that were supposed to strengthen Pittsburgh’s core enough to be able to achieve that goal. Unfortunately, that is not how things played out in the long run and these two slipped through the Pens’ fingers.

Given the combination of Goligoski being great for Dallas and Pittsburgh being unable to retain what turned out to be the two marquee players they received in this deal, Dallas wins by a surprising long shot. Dallas is a competitive team, as is Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is not competitive as a result of this deal, but rather in spite of it. Despite Dallas’ many shortcomings, Goligoski makes the Stars a better team. The Stars’ did very well here.

Written by Mark Ball and who can be found on twitter @hockeyMarkB

James Neal

Matt Niskanen

Alex Goligoski

Here are some videos involving the Neal, Niskanen and Goligoski

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