The Dallas Stars are beginning to use their cap space from injuries to their advantage.

The Dallas Stars were off Saturday, but General Manager Jim Nill was busy conjuring up a trade with the San Jose Sharks for forward Mikael Granlund and defenseman Cody Ceci. 

In return, the Stars are sending San Jose their 2025 1st round pick, as well as a conditional 4th round pick from this year's draft that could turn into a 3rd if Dallas makes the Stanley Cup Final.

Nill announced earlier Saturday that Nils Lundkvist will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery, and that he and Tyler Seguin were moved to LTIR, freeing up cap space to make room for any trades he might want to do.

It didn't take long for Nill to get things in motion. Ceci is a right-handed shot that provides a veteran defensive presence that is suddenly needed on the blue line after Miro Heiskanen suffered an injury that will keep him out at least 8-12 weeks and with Lundkvist being ruled out for the rest of the year.

Ceci was part of the Edmonton Oilers team that took out the Stars in the Western Conference Final last season, and was traded to the San Jose Sharks in the offseason to add more cap space for Edmonton. He is in the fourth year of his current deal and set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season with a current cap hit of $3.25 million.

In 54 games this season, Ceci has posted four goals and 11 assists, and over his career has 54 goals and 226 points in 840 games. Ceci was a member of the Ottawa Senators for his first six seasons and had two brief stints in Toronto and Pittsburgh before heading to Edmonton for the past three seasons.

Granlund is also a pending unrestricted free agent in the fourth year of his contract, carrying a cap hit of $5 million. Granlund has 45 points in 52 games for the lowly Sharks this season, creating a solid offensive presence on a team that has struggled to score. The Finnish forward has 589 points in 871 career games.

Granlund played for the Minnesota wild for the first seven years of his career before getting traded to the Nashville Predators, where he spent five seasons. He was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins at the 2022-23 trade deadline, and was a member of the Sharks for the past two seasons.

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