Stars trade for Granlund, Ceci strengthens chances at Stanley Cup

Legendary hockey reporter Stan Fischler writes a weekly scrapbook for NHL.com. Fischler, known as "The Hockey Maven," shares his humor and insight with readers each Wednesday.

The 2025 NHL Trade Deadline is 3 p.m. ET on Friday. The Dallas Stars acquired forward Mikael Granlund and defenseman Cody Ceci from the San Jose Sharks on Feb. 1, which has boosted their chances at winning the Stanley Cup. The reigning Stanley Cup champion Toronto Maple Leafs got stronger with a 1947 trade for Max Bentley and that helped them become the first dynasty in NHL history.

The Dallas Stars were among the favorites to win the Stanley Cup before the season.

"Why not Dallas?" wrote Hockey News Editor-in-Chief Ryan Kennedy. "They were a top 10 possession team last year and have the chance to be even better this year."

Their chances improved after acquiring forward Mikael Granlund and defenseman Cody Ceci in a trade with the San Jose Sharks on Feb. 1 for a first- and third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. Stars general manager Jim Nill said Granlund was "my Finnish army knife because he's so versatile. He can play any forward position, is very effective on the power play, a very good penalty killer, takes draws and can play anywhere up and down the lineup."

Said Stars coach Peter DeBoer: "It's a message to our group that we're all-in and giving us a chance to win (the Cup)."

More than five decades earlier, a major trade was designed to help the Toronto Maple Leafs repeat as Stanley Cup champions, with a slight twist. Owner Conn Smythe, like Nill, knew he needed more offense.

"In spite of his success, Smythe knew that the key to his team's future was strength down the middle -- adding another center to captain Syl Apps and Ted Kennedy," wrote Kevin Shea in "The Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club: Official Centennial Publication."

The target was Chicago Black Hawks center Max Bentley, the reigning Hart Trophy winner who won the NHL scoring title in 1945-46 and the points race a season later.

"We need a first-class center to round out a championship contender and Bentley is the man," Smythe said.

The Black Hawks were reluctant to split the brother combination of Max and Doug Bentley.

"That was the tough part," Chicago coach Johnny Gottselig said, "but we desperately needed fresh blood up front and on defense. Smythe had what we wanted."

The trade was made Nov. 2, 1947. Toronto sent the "Flying Forts" line -- Gus Bodnar, Bud Poile and Gaye Stewart -- and promising defensemen Bob Goldham and Ernie Dickens to Chicago, which added minor league forward Cy Thomas.

"The trade would have been a blockbuster in any era," Shea said, "and when it was finalized it rocked the hockey world."

NHL President Clarence Campbell called it, "The biggest deal in hockey in a long time."

Bentley, said to have skated "like a scared jackrabbit," made an immediate impact.

"Max has the greatest shot in hockey," Maple Leafs goalie Turk Broda said. "A flick of the wrist, and brother, it's gone. He'd let it go ankle-high, close to the post and a goalie hasn't a chance."

The addition of Bentley, who was nicknamed "The Dipsy Doodle Dandy from Delisle (Saskatchewan)," bolstered Toronto with three future Hockey Hall of Fame centers with Apps and Kennedy.

"The battle for first place in 1947-48 was a two-team race between Toronto and Detroit," wrote Maple Leafs historian Eric Zweig. "Then the Leafs won a home-and-home sweep of Detroit on the final weekend to clinch first place."

By contrast, in this 2024-25 homestretch, the second-place Stars are chasing the Central Division-leading Winnipeg Jets. They are 7-2-1 since the trade. Granlund (seven assists) is playing right wing on the second line with Mason Marchment and Matt Duchene. Ceci (three assists) is on the top defense pair to the right of Thomas Harley.

"The Granlund-Ceci trade has made Dallas a stronger all-around team," said Jess Rubenstein, a writer covering New York Rangers prospects for The Prospect Park. "Granlund improves the Stars from two strong scoring lines to three. Ceci provides them with three strong defensive pairs. Now Dallas has a legitimate chance to beat Winnipeg because the Stars are a more balanced, complete team."

Smythe wanted balance and got it. Apps scored 26 goals, Kennedy 25 and Bentley 23. The Maple Leafs defeated the Boston Bruins in five games of the 1948 NHL Semifinals and swept the Detroit Red Wings in the best-of-7 Stanley Cup Final.

"With Max Bentley, we had the 'Murderers' Row' of hockey," glowed Smythe. "This 1948 squad is the greatest team I ever had."

It didn't last. Apps and veteran center Nick Metz retired after the season, leaving the Maple Leafs short down the middle, so they traded defensemen Wally Stanowski and Elwyn Morris to the Rangers for forwards Cal Gardner and Rene Trudel, and defensemen Bill Juzda and Frank Mathers, Gardner being the prize.

Despite the additions, a third consecutive Stanley Cup championship seemed unlikely. Toronto finished 22-25-13. Unable to fill Apps' skates, Gardner had 35 points (13 goals, 22 assists) in 53 games.

"The second-place Bruins were expected to beat Toronto in the semifinal," Zweig wrote in his oral history of the Maple Leafs, "but Toronto won the series opener 3-0 and defeated Boston in five games. Now they would face the Red Wings who finished first, 18 points ahead of Toronto."

Although many in Detroit Olympia's press box predicted a Red Wings sweep, Toronto won the opener 3-2 in overtime and the Final in another sweep. An ecstatic Smythe burst into the winner's clubhouse shouting, "You did it! You did something never done before. You've taken that Cup three years in a row!"

An NHL dynasty was created and, as a bonus, Toronto's fourth championship in five years was secured in 1951. This time, Bentley and Gardner were twin heroes against the Montreal Canadiens in the Cup-clinching fifth game, ending a series where each one went to overtime.

"That one was the best," Bentley said. "I learned from the Leafs that there was more to hockey than I ever dreamed of!"

The Stars hope their trade acquisitions pay dividends. They're seeking their first Stanley Cup championship since 1999 and second since joining the NHL as the Minnesota North Stars for the 1967-68 season.