The Stars on Monday acquired defenseman Kris Russell from the Calgary Flames for defenseman Jyrki Jokipakka, forward Brett Pollock and a conditional second round draft pick.
Russell, 28, is a solid defender with some good and bad. The good is he's smart, doesn't take a lot of penalties and blocks a lot of shots. The bad is he's small (5-10, 175) and left-handed. He is not a huge offensive presence, with 15 points (4 goals, 11 assists) in 51 games this season, but he can make a good first pass and keep up with the speed of the Stars' forwards.