Ducks trade for Patrick Eaves: Anaheim gets offensive help it needs from Stars

Another pre-deadline trade goes down, and this time it's for some late-season offense

Another day, another trade.

After the Pittsburgh Penguins got defensive help with the acquisition of Ron Hainsey on Thursday, it was the Anaheim Ducks’ turn to add some talent ahead of the weekend and the NHL’s March 1 trade deadline.

In landing forward Patrick Eaves from the favored-to-sell Dallas Stars in exchange for a 2017 second-round draft pick, the Ducks have delivered on an unwritten promise to bolster their offensive firepower as they inch closer to a playoff run out of the Pacific Division.

Just one piece from a talented but underachieving Stars unit, Eaves has logged career highs in points (37) and goals (21) this season at 32. A second-round draft pick might seem costly for a guy who is bound to see his production drop after this season, the only one for which he is under contract, but Anaheim is taking on only a $1 million salary with Eaves enjoying a career year.

Ducks fans ought to be thrilled at the chance to infuse Eaves’ 2016-17 scoring prowess, particularly when it comes to power plays, into a postseason-hungry club lacking consistent offensive juice. Throw in the fact that Eaves offers more than 75 games of playoff experience and that the second-rounder Anaheim sent Dallas was originally acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs, and this one sounds like a real winner for the Ducks.

And if Eaves’ beard game stands for anything? Well, then, this might have been one of the most lopsided swaps of the season.