Alex Goligoski

On February 2, 2011, the Dallas Stars were five points ahead of the San Jose Sharks.

They had just been beaten 4-1 at Vancouver, but no one was too worried, considering the Stars had been playing woefully against the Canucks all season (conceding 15 and only scoring three).

The Stars had managed to fight their way back to victory after these sorts of games.

Since the dust has settled in south Texas, fans of the Dallas Stars franchise have been coming to terms with the loss of fan favorite James Neal, a 20+ goal-a-year power forward with a big frame and what looked to be a promising future in the Lone Star State.

The trade deadline hasn't passed although it seems like it has. But that's the joy of it.

In the NHL, when the trade deadline comes close, teams start dealing almost a month in advance.

Once again that has been the case this year.

This slideshow breaks down the trades to date and which players went where.

Feel free to comment below and give your input on who you think will be the next to go and where!

Pittsburgh Penguins General Manager Ray Shero has struck again, and this time he didn't wait until the trade deadline. Despite the fact that the Penguins are without Evgeni Malkin for the rest of the season and without Sidney Crosby out indefinitely with a concussion, Shero was bound to try to improve his team short-term should Crosby return for a playoff run.&

Trade: James Neal and Matt Niskanen traded from the Dallas Stars to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Alex Goligoski.

Pittsburgh: The Penguins finally get an offensive scoring winger to play with Sidney Crosby. 

Reports have recently come out that the Pittsburgh Penguins are talking to the Dallas Stars about a deal that would send defenseman Alex Goligoski to the Stars in exchange for forward James Neal.

Darren Dreger of TSN reported in his daily update, The Dreger Report, that this deal was being discussed.

It could be a good fit for both sides, but would probably involve some other pieces (draft picks) being exchanged.

Let's take a look at what each team would get out of it.

Average is the perfect word to describe the Pittsburgh Penguins first 20 games of the 2010-11 NHL season.

Their strong penalty kill and weak power play combine to make a very average special teams. Their 10-8-2 record could be called average, considering the Penguins great success in recent years. That record evens out to a .550 points percentage, another average stat.

Superstar Evgeni Malkin? He's been average.

The play was emblematic of the season thus far.

Defenseman Alex Goligoski charged up the boards inside the blueline, trying to keep the puck in the offensive zone midway through the third period of a 4-4 game. Shawn Thornton of the Boston Bruins got to the biscuit first, however, and chipped it past the oncoming Goligoski and into the neutral zone.

Gone are the questions of when Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang will step up his game and play to his full potential, because the start of the 2010-2011 NHL season has this young Penguin playing some top-notch hockey.

For a player who was touted as a future Paul Coffey after being drafted 62nd overall in the 2005 NHL Draft, Letang's NHL career started slowly and unstable.

All throughout the NHL season I will be following the stars of tomorrow.  My criterion for these players is two years in the NHL or less than 160 games combined (with minor exceptions).

Many players take that next big step in year three and really come into their own.   Some sooner, some later, but the development of a star is fascinating to watch.

The rankings will be updated as the season unfolds to reflect who's living up to expectations and who is not.