ANALYSIS: Penguins Trade Sydor to Dallas for Defenseman Phillipe Boucher

In somewhat of a surprising move announced this morning, the Penguins have traded depth defenseman Darryl Sydor to the Dallas Stars for defenseman Phillipe Boucher.

The fact that Sydor has moved on isn't surprising.

The return Penguins GM Ray Shero received for him, however, has to rate at least somewhat of a surprise.

Boucher, 35, is a 6'3" and 215 pound right-handed shot who had only 3 assists in 16 games this year for a Stars team that has struggled mightily in its own zone this season. However, Boucher is hardly far removed from being a key contributor to many successful Dallas squads from the time he joined the Stars in the 2002/2003 season. Until last year when he only played in 38 games due to injury, Boucher was a 35 to 40-point per year defenseman on average. In fact, in his last full season, 2006-2007, he scored 19 goals, had 51 points and was an NHL all-star.

All of that makes this deal curious because the Penguins have good depth on the blueline, especially offensively. And even though Boucher is a decent two-way player thanks to all his years in the Stars' system, you'd have to say that he's more capable offensively than he is defensively.

One would think that if Shero was going to obtain a player for Sydor rather than a draft pick, it would have been a forward and not another defenseman. That's not to be critical because, all things considered, Sydor was nothing more than a depth player for the Penguins. Getting a player of Boucher's caliber in return has to be considered something of a coup.

As I mentioned above, the Stars have struggled defensively this year. They also have some young guys they are continuing to try and work into their defensive rotation. In that sense, Shero may have been able to take advantage of the situation there. Sydor will certainly be a stabilizing presence for them, and he has familiarity with Dallas. Why Boucher could not have filled the same role for the Stars is unclear, however.

What else is unclear to me is how Boucher will fit in with the Penguins current crop of defenseman. He's certainly a top 6 guy and, arguably, a top 4 guy when at the top of his game. With all the healthy bodies the Penguins have on the blueline, however, I can't help but wonder if another deal involving a defenseman is in the works. If it doesn't involve one of the Penguins two young offensive guns there -- Letang or Goligoski, who would bring the most return -- it may involve Mark Eaton, who hasn't played terribly well this season so far, has been a healthy scratch at times, was directly responsible for one of the goals against last night, and has a 2 million cap hit this season.

For what it's worth, Boucher is in the last year of his contract, and pulls down the same salary as Sydor was getting -- 2.5 million.

Time will tell where this goes but for now, this can't be considered anything but a good deal for the Penguins. At the very least, they turned a spare part into an asset. I'm anxious to see how Boucher fits in and how he does in Pittsburgh ...