Report: Stars tried and failed to trade Sergei Gonchar this summer

The Dallas Stars tried and failed to move 40-year-old veteran defender Sergei Gonchar this offseason.

This shouldn't come as a surprise, since Gonchar was a flop in his first season with the Stars. Appearing in 76 games the aging blue-liner tallied just two goals and 22 points, logged third-pairing minutes, and managed easily the worst even-strength goal and shot-attempt differential among regular Stars defenders. 

Gonchar's first season went poorly enough that the Stars were willing to keep half of his freight on the books in a potential deal, but still were unable to find a taker. From Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News:

I was almost 100 percent sure that [Stars GM] Jim Nill would find a way to move Sergei Gonchar before the summer was over, but it looks like that could be more difficult than I imagined. Even with the team willing to eat half of his $5 million salary (the maximum allowed under the new CBA), the Stars could not find a trade partner for the 40-year-old defenseman.

The Russian-born defender has just one-year and $5 million remaining on his current deal, but is filling a limited role that might be better occupied by a younger, more affordable player like Cameron Gaunce, or Kevin Connauton, or Jamie Oleksiak, or Patrik Nemeth. 

[H/T Pro Hockey Talk]