Ladislav Nagy to the Stars

Little late, but here’s my take on the Ladislav Nagy trade.

It’s an interesting trade from the Stars perspective. In 2005-06 the Stars finished in the top 10 in goals-for, but find themselves the seventh-lowest scoring team in the league so far this year.

With injuries to Mike Modano and Brendan Morrow, and the off-season loss of Jason Arnott, the Stars top unit has not had a chance to produce the way they did last season. Modano has played just 33 games, collecting 22 points, while Morrow has 20 points in 28 games. Eric Lindros, signed in the off-season to offset Arnott’s loss has just 26 points in 44 games -- well below his career average 1.14 points a game. Mike Ribeiro was acquired from Montreal at the start of the season when Modano was hurt, and is the third-leading scorer despite seeing fourth-line ice time. Worth noting: the two players ahead of Ribeiro are Philippe Boucher and Sergei Zubov; a pair of defensemen.

Enter Nagy. Before the season, I’d pegged Nagy as a player to watch. He seemed to be on the verge of a breakout season after bagging 108 points (39 goals) in 106 games over 2003-04 and 2005-06. Instead, Nagy’s having a Nagy season. He’s slightly ahead of his career average points-per-game pace, but his goal-scoring has dropped off. His eight goals this year are a far cry from the 15 he netted last season, and even further from the three-straight 20-goal seasons before that. The perception is that Nagy has developed into a playmaker’s role, and Dallas has setup men in Modano, Ribeiro, but no one to finish.

Of even more concern should be Nagy’s plus/minus rating this season. After four plus seasons with bad Phoenix teams, Nagy is a minus player this year. That’s a troubling stat for a defensive-minded team like Dallas. If Nagy couldn’t (or wouldn’t) grasp Wayne Gretzky’s defensive systems in Phoenix, there are no guarantees he’s going to do it for Dave Tippett in Dallas.

That said, all in all, this trade was worth the gamble for Dallas. But it is a gamble. A pick and a prospect is a small price to pay for a guy with potentially unlimited offensive upside. If Nagy regains his nose for the net, and brings his proverbial lunch pail, this trade will pay off for the Stars in a big way. If not, Nagy and Ribeiro could set goals-against records playing together.