On a day in which defensemen ruled the movement on trading-deadline day, the Dallas Stars obtained one of the best defensemen available, acquiring Willie Mitchell and a second-round draft pick in the 2006 Entry Draft, in exchange for defensemen Shawn Belle and Martin Skoula.

Mitchell, 28, is a big (6-foot-3), hulking (205 pounds) defensemen that excels in taking care of his end and doling out punishment to opposing forwards. Those are qualities that the Stars certainly need as they duel down the stretch with the Detroit Red Wings for supremacy in the Western Conference.

The Stars, just two points behind Detroit at the top of the conference standings, already possess a nice blend of puck-moving and strong-skating defenders, headlined by Sergei Zubov and Philippe Boucher. Now, they have the hammer necessary to intimidate opposing forwards looking to set up shop around the Dallas crease.

Mitchell has just two goals and eight points this season, in 64 games, but he registered a team-best plus-15 mark for the Wild and also has a career-high 87 penalty minutes.

The native of Port McNiell, British Columbia also has an impressive, albeit short, playoff resume. He was perhaps Minnesota's best defenseman in the 2003 postseason when the Wild shocked the hockey world by advancing to the Western Conference Finals in the franchise's first, and only, playoff appearance.

That spring, Mitchell had a goal and three assists to go along with a plus-5 rating. Those numbers are even more respectable because Mitchell played much of that postseason with a series of painful injuries.

That pedigree was more than enough to convince Stars GM Doug Armstrong to part with promising young defenseman Belle, 21, and serviceable defender Skoula, who is now joining his third NHL team in four years. Skoula was signed by Dallas as a free agent in August.

Belle, in his first season of pro hockey, with the Iowa Stars, has one goal and three points to go along with a minus-4 rating and 63 penalty minutes in 45 AHL games. He was a first-round choice, 30th overall, of the St. Louis Blues in the 2003 Entry Draft.

The defenseman, 6-foot-2, 211 pounds, won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2005 World Junior championships and also won a gold with the Canadian Under-18 team at the Eight Nations Cup in 2002, where he was named the tournament's top defenseman.

Skoula, meanwhile, had four goals, 15 points and a plus-6 rating in 61 games. The 26-year-old defenseman already has 465 NHL games to his credit, registering 33 goals, 104 assists and a cumulative plus-32 rating.

The trade of Mitchell was the second major move in as many days for the Wild, who remain on the fringe of the Western Conference playoff race, just seven points behind eighth-place Edmonton with 18 games remaining.

Wednesday, Minnesota traded goalie Dwayne Roloson to the Oilers for a first-round pick in the 2006 Entry Draft, as well as future considerations.