The Dallas Stars landed a big-time scorer to fit into their second-line centre spot, sending forward depth to Ottawa in return. Numbers Game looks at the Jason Spezza trade. The Stars Get: C Jason Spezza and LW Ludwig Karlsson. Spezza, 31, has been one of the premier scoring centres in the league and, since 2005-2006, only Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Alex Ovechkin, Joe Thornton and Pavel Datsyuk have a higher points-per-game than Spezzas 1.06 (611 points in 575 games). With a decided tilt towards more offensive zone starts, which makes sense given his skill set, Spezza has put up solid possession stats. In an ideal world, he would be better without the puck, but Spezza has consistently generated shots when hes on the ice. Hes also very effective on the power play, which ought to help a Dallas power play that was 23rd in the league last season, converting 15.9% of their attempts. In Dallas, Spezza should also tend to get favourable matchups, as other teams will still focus on Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn and Valeri Nichushkin on the top line. At the moment, candidates to skate on Spezzas wing should include veteran Erik Cole, prospects Colton Sceviour and Brett Ritchie as well as, if hes cleared to play, Rich Peverley. What that might indicate is that the Stars are going to still be in the market for additional help. Some of that additional help comes in the person of Spezzas winger in Ottawa at the end of last season, Ales Hemsky, who signed a three-year, $12-million deal with the Stars. Hemsky, 30, was getting miscast in Edmonton, as the Oilers turned to younger talent and cut his ice time, but joining Spezza in Ottawa at the trade deadline showed that Hemsky still has what it takes to produce when he plays with top talent. As a setup guy, Hemsky might fit with Benn and Seguin on the top line, allowing Valeri Nichushkin to slide in alongside Spezza. With one year remaining on his contract, Spezza brings a $7-million cap hit, though hes a significant bargain as his actual salary is only $4-million. Karlsson is a 6-foot-3 winger who spent most of his first pro season in the ECHL, scoring 24 points in 39 games. With the Senators taking on three players, Karlsson going the other way eases any potential pressure on Ottawas reserve list. If he materializes into a legit NHL prospect, it would come as a major surprise and probably an added kick in the teeth to the Senators, who are already giving up the clear top player in the deal. Dallas is a team on the rise and adding Spezza and Hemsky to the fold does a nice job closing the gap between the Stars and the top contenders in the Western Conference. The Senators Get: RW Alex Chiasson, C Alex Guptill, LW Nick Paul and 2nd round pick in 2015. Chiasson is a 23-year-old winger coming off a decent rookie season during which he scored 13 goals and 35 points in 79 games, with mediocre possession stats that were substantially better than his minus-21 rating would suggest, thanks to one of the lowest on-ice save percentages in the league. Thats the kind of thing that tends to bounce back, so dont write off Chiasson entirely as a defensive liability. Offensively, he broke into his NHL career with 11 goals and 54 shots on goal in 19 games (from late 2012-2013 through October 2013), and the 6-foot-3 winger looked like he might have the making of a big goal-scorer, more because he was generating a lot of shots rather than the unsustainable rate at which he was finishing, but Chiassons ice time decreased as the season went on and he scored eight goals in the final 70 games of the season. With offensive upside, its possible that Chiasson would find his way into a role with the Senators top six forwards, but there will be some competition among other offseason additions as well as the wingers already in the organization. With Clarke MacArthur and Bobby Ryan the established scorers, there will be room for competition with the likes of Mark Stone, Mike Hoffman and Mika Zibanejad, depending on the next steps for Senators GM Bryan Murray. Still on his entry-level deal, Chiasson will make $900,000 next season, which is a bargain price for a top-nine forward, particularly one that could conceivably score 20 goals in the right situation. 22-year-old Alex Guptill is a solid prospect, who scored 61 points in 69 games over his last two seasons at the University of Michigan. He joined the Texas Stars late in the season, chipping in a couple of points in five games, so hell start next season at Binghamton and get used to the pro grind. Nick Paul is a 19-year-old winger that the Stars drafted in the fourth round last summer. He has good size (6-foot-3, 200 pounds) and while he made progress in his second OHL season, scoring 26 goals and 46 points in 67 games, he was even better in the postseason, scoring 12 goals and 18 points in 22 playoff games. Both Paul and Guptill have a chance to eventually play for the Senators, but both are going to need some time before thats a realistic consideration. A second-round pick brings a little better than a one-in-three chance of yielding an NHL player. All told, this package isnt particularly sexy in exchange for the second-leading scorer in franchise history, but the Senators didnt have much leverage and have reasonable chance to get two or three NHLers out of the deal, eventually. It might be more encouraging if the Senators were going to take the cap savings from this deal and re-invest it in the teams payroll, but we will have to wait and see if anything happens in that respect before the Senators get credit for losing skill and cutting payroll. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Derek Sanderson Jersey . TSN Hockey Insiders Pierre LeBrun and Bob McKenzie both reported Thursday that there have been ongoing trade discussions between the Oilers and Los Angeles Kings over forward Sam Gagner. Milan Lucic Jersey . That little deal worked out in a big way for the Mavericks. Nowitzki had 21 points Tuesday night to pass Oscar Robertson for 10th on the NBAs career scoring list, leading the Mavs to a 95-83 victory over the Utah Jazz. http://www.bruinsstore.com/authentic-ada...-bruins-jersey/. Watch the announcement live on TSN.ca at 12:30pm et/9:30am pt. This years honourees will be recognized at the 2014 Hockey Canada Foundation Celebrity Classic, scheduled for June 23-24 in Vancouver. Custom Boston Bruins Jerseys . Listen to the Raptors vs. Jazz live tonight on TSN Radio 1050 at 9pm et/6pm pt. The Raptors are 1-1 so far on the five-game junket after defeating Denver and losing to Portland. Boston Bruins Jerseys . Berkman almost left the game last off-season before signing with the Texas Rangers. He then had another injury-plagued season and was limited to 73 games.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hi Kerry, In the third period of Game 6 between the Bruins and Canadiens, Boston came within millimetres of getting one past Carey Price. Zdeno Charas shot from the point bounced off Carey Price and into the air before dropping right in the crease. David Desharnais then swept it away with his glove, but should a penalty shot have been called??? David KrastBoston David: The answer to your question is found in Rule 67 - handling the puck. Generally speaking anytime a player places his hand over the puck while it is on the ice in order to conceal if from or prevent an opponent from playing the puck, a minor penalty shall be assessed for "closing his hand on the puck". When this is done in his teams goal crease area, a penalty shot shall be assessed. More specifically to David Desharnais handling of the puck as it was about to cross the goal line following the shot by Zdeno Chara, rule 67.4 states; if a defending player, except a goalkeeper, while play is in progress, falls on the puck, holds the puck, picks up the puck, or gathers the puck into his body or hands from the ice in the goal crease area, the play shall be stopped immediately and a penalty shot shall be awarded to the non-offending team. In the application of this rule a player is allowed to bat, drag, push or sweep the puck clear of the goal crease with an oppen palm or closed fist so long as this action does not cover the puck in any manner.dddddddddddd. David Desharnais legally handled the puck in the goal crease area when he dove and contacted the side portion of the puck with a closed glove (tight fist versus open palm on top of the puck) and bunted/dragged the puck with a swift, forceful motion from narrowly crossing the line. This legal action by Desharnais propelled the puck away from the goal line toward and under Carey Price to stop play. It is important to note David, that had the puck had come to rest and been covered under the body of Desharnais instead of Price, a penalty shot would have resulted. It was a tremendous defensive play by the Montreal forward to prevent a sure goal through the legal use of his hand on the puck inside the goal crease. Referee Kelly Sutherland also did an outstanding job to attack the net along the goal line as this play developed and then to wave off a potential goal and penalty shot from his final location directly behind the net. As a result of Sutherlands attack angle and close finish behind the net, the referee was able to clearly determine that the puck had not crossed the goal line nor had Desharnais covered the puck with his hand or body. On this crucial play inside the goal crease, referee Sutherland demonstrated excellent visual awareness to read the play and then quickly move his feet to gain the optimum position to render the correct call. Game 7 back in Boston should be a real dandy. 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