NHL Trade Deadline 2016: Boston Bruins and Kris Russell

“He will bring a steadying presence to our blue-line and we feel he will help us improve in several areas”.

Kris Russell (lower body) will be a game-time decision for Saturday’s home tilt against the Senators, according to Calgary Flames coach Bob Hartley.

Russell is a left-handed, puck-moving defenseman who has four goals and 11 assists through 51 games this season.

On the open market this summer the unrestricted free agent is destined for a deal similar to the six-year, $33 million deals ($5.5 million annually) signed by Jeff Petry and Andrej Sekara.

Russell, 28, has played big minutes in Calgary, averaging more than 23 minutes per game over the past three seasons, and he’s a shot-blocking beast, with 177 more than the player with the second-most blocks over that period.

After much speculation with very little movement, he has finally been traded to the Dallas Stars for Jyrki Jokipakka, Brett Pollock, and a conditional second round pick. Russell’s numbers dwarf those of both players.

A key part of Calgary’s rebuild, Russell emerged as its go-to guy on defence last season when Mark Giordano suffered a torn biceps.

In the second year of a two-year, US$5.2-million deal, Russell had become unaffordable for the Flames, who are not in playoff contention this season.

Jokipakka, 24, has 6 points in 40 games for the Stars this season.

Pollock was a second-round pick in 2014 and the 19-year-old has been a productive junior player. He is leading the WHL Edmonton Oil Kings in points, assists, and plus-minus. If they advance to the Western Conference Finals, and Kris Russell plays at least half of the games in the first two rounds, it becomes a first round pick.