Mikael Granlund and Cody Ceci were traded to the Dallas Stars by the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.
In return for the forward and defenseman, the Sharks acquired a first-round pick and a conditional third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
"Ceci had a deep run with Edmonton (last season) and playing in the West against us, so I got a chance to see him quite a bit," Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. "And Granlund has been in the Western Conference for as long as I can remember back to Minnesota and Nashville. I've always admired his game from the other bench. Both guys will help us. It's a message to our group that we're all in and giving us a chance to win, which I think is important and deserved for the group for what they've done so far."
Granlund is in the final season of a four-year contract he signed with the Nashville Predators on July 28, 2021, and can become an unrestricted free agent after the season.
The 32-year-old forward has 45 points (15 goals, 30 assists) in 52 games for the Sharks this season.
Selected by the Minnesota Wild in the first round (No. 9) of the 2010 NHL Draft, Granlund has 589 points (172 goals, 417 assists) in 871 regular-season games for the Sharks, Pittsburgh Penguins, Predators and Wild and 32 points (11 goals, 21 assists) in 59 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Granlund will now be the third member of the Stars to play on Team Finland in the 4 Nations Face-Off, joining forward Roope Hintz and defenseman Esa Lindell. Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen was on the roster but will miss the international best-on-best tournament because of a lower-body injury.
Ceci, 31, had 15 points (four goals, 11 assists) in 54 games for the Sharks this season after being traded to San Jose by the Edmonton Oilers with a third-round pick in the 2025 draft for defenseman Ty Emberson on Aug. 18.
He has 226 points (52 goals, 174 assists) in 840 career NHL games with the Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs, Penguins, Oilers and Sharks. He is in the final season of a four-year, $13 million contract ($3.25 AAV) he signed with Edmonton on July 28, 2021.
"He's a very efficient player," Stars general manager Jim Nill said of Granlund. "I call him a Swiss army knife. Or call him a Finnish army knife, I guess. Very versatile, can play any forward position, center, wing. Very effective on the power play. His resume, he's a very good penalty killer, he takes draws. He can play up and down the lineup. Great connection with the players here, that was another big part of it. With the Finns, he'll be at the 4 Nations with those guys. Great connection there. But also Matt Duchene, he played with him in Nashville, they were teammates and linemates. Great hockey sense, smart player, sees the ice well."
Dallas is without forward Tyler Seguin, who had hip surgery Dec. 5 and was expected to miss 4-5 months, and defensemen Miro Heiskanen, who is week to week with a knee injury, and Nils Lundkvist, who was ruled out for the season on Saturday with a shoulder injury.
"We had two major injuries happen to us, on top of the other injuries we already had," Nill said. "I was very worried where this was going. I want to give a compliment to our coaching staff and our players. We've gone through a lot this year. I thought it was time for them to get rewarded for what they've done. We've had a good year, we've gone through a lot of adversity between injuries, tough schedules, travel -- there's been no excuses by anybody. They've battled every night, and I think our record is almost the same as last year. That's a compliment to our guys. I just think it was time to give them a little support."
The Stars (33-17-1) are in in second place in the Central Division, one point ahead of the Minnesota Wild and 10 points behind the Winnipeg Jets.
If the Stars reach the Stanley Cup Final this season, the Sharks will get Dallas’ third-round pick in the 2025 draft; if Dallas does not, the Sharks will receive a 2025 fourth-round selection (from the Winnipeg Jets) instead.
The Sharks (15-33-6) are last in the Pacific Division. They now hold eight selections in the 2025 draft, including two in the first round.
"I think at the end of the day, it was the return," Sharks general manager Mike Grier said. "[Granlund and Ceci are] two players that played really well for us. We set our price out, and Dallas was ready to meet it."
NHL.com independent correspondents Taylor Baird and Max Miller contributed to this report
