DALLAS — The Dallas Stars acquired veteran defenceman Ben Lovejoy in a trade with the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.
The Stars sent defenceman Connor Carrick and a 2019 third-round draft pick to the Devils in the deal reached two days before the NHL’s trade deadline.
Lovejoy is an 11-year veteran and defensive specialist who won a Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016. He was second on the Devils with 77 blocked shots while playing a key penalty-killing role. He has two goals and seven points in 51 games this season and 20 goals and 99 points in 524 career games.
General manager Jim Nill called Lovejoy “an experienced, battle-tested player who has a track record of performing in meaningful late-season games.”
With Marc Methot out after season-ending knee surgery last month and Stephen Johns (neck/head) having not played this season, Lovejoy is a boost to the Dallas defence. The Stars reacquired defenceman Jamie Oleksiak from Pittsburgh in a trade last month.
The trade comes with Dallas seeking to keep pace in the congested Western Conference playoff race in which five points separate the seventh-place Stars and 12th-place Vancouver.
Dallas was 2-4-1 in its past seven games going into Saturday’s home game against Carolina. The Stars were coming off a 5-2 win Thursday over St. Louis that snapped a franchise-record 11-game winning streak by the Blues.
New Jersey was 14th in the 16-team Eastern Conference.
The 24-year-old Carrick had a goal and four points in 14 games with the Stars this season.
Lovejoy was a healthy scratch when the Devils played Thursday against Ottawa. Lovejoy had a plus-one rating in his 51 games, one of only two New Jersey’s regulars in the positive.
