When an NHL player has longevity with one team, it's hard to think that a player would be traded. However, in July 2014, the Ottawa Senators traded then captain Jason Spezza to the Dallas Stars. Spezza, who was 31 years old at the time, had played 11 seasons in Ottawa and is one of the greatest players in Senators history with recording 687 points in 686 games.
The trade was a blockbuster as the Stars were going all in for a championship after making the 2014 playoffs. 2014 marked the first time the Stars made the playoffs since 2008. A potential rebuild sign was pointed toward the Senators when they traded their captain.
Looking back on the trade, it's now been over a decade. What some could find shocking, is that neither team really "won" the Spezza trade. For the four seasons Spezza played with the Stars and for the four seasons the Senators were without Spezza, both teams still didn't accomplish as much as the teams envisioned.
How Senators nor Stars won 2014 Spezza trade
When the trade occurred, the Stars received Spezza and then prospect Ludwig Karlsson. The Senators received Alex Chiasson, then prospects Nick Paul and Alex Guptill, and a 2015 second-round draft pick.
Spezza spent the next four seasons with the Stars after being traded by the Senators. On paper at the time of the trade, the Stars appeared to be a threat to the Western Conference with their rising duo of Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. Spezza had recorded two 90-point seasons and made two All-Star Game appearances. Some thought Spezza could be a missing piece to the Stars' roster.
Unfortunately for Spezza, after recording back-to-back 60-point seasons in his first two seasons as a Star, his numbers dropped big. Spezza recorded a 50-point season in the 2016-17 season and a 26-point season in the 2017-18 season.
If there's one thing the Senators could have an edge in the trade is they made the playoffs twice during Spezza's four seasons in Dallas. The Senators made the playoffs in 2015 and 2017. The Stars' only playoff appearance with Spezza was in 2016. But, it's what the Senators received from the Stars that backfired.
Chiasson showed potential with the Stars in the 2013-14 season at 23 years old when he recorded 35 points in his true rookie season. So, the Senators felt more potential was there for Chiasson. Unfortunately, Chiasson recorded 40 points in 153 games played as a Senator. In January of this year, Chiasson retired from the NHL.
Guptill never played in a single NHL game in his career. As for the 2015 second-round draft pick the Senators received, the team traded up in the 2015 NHL Draft to 36th overall where the New Jersey Devils were positioned, and selected Gabriel Gagne.
Just like Guptill, Gagne never played in an NHL game. The Senators passed on Roope Hintz in the second round of that year's draft, who ironically is a star player today for the Stars. Another stinger is Sebastian Aho was drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes one pick before Gagne.
For Paul, he recorded 66 points in 227 games played as a Senator for the next seven seasons, but was traded by the Senators in the 2021-22 season to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Since joining the Lightning, Paul has been a steady player. Paul has recorded 122 points in 232 games in Tampa as of now.
And if anybody wants to know what happened to Karlsson for the prospect the Stars received from the Senators in the trade, just like Guptill and Gagne, Karlsson never played in an NHL game.
Now sure, since Spezza left the Stars following the 2017-18 season, the Stars have been one of the most consistent teams in the NHL with making three Conference Finals and one Stanley Cup Final. The Senators haven't made the playoffs since 2017's heartbreaking Conference Finals loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. But, the Stars' success today helped when the team drafted Miro Heiskanen, Jake Oettinger and Jason Robertson all in the 2017 NHL Draft when Spezza was about to play his final season in Dallas.
Could Spezza have given the Senators an extra push in 2017? It's unknown. Could Spezza have given the Stars an extra push when they fell to the Lightning in the 2020 Stanley Cup Final? It's also unknown.
However, in the four seasons for both the Senators and Stars after Spezza was traded in 2014, neither team exactly "won" the trade.