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Less than three weeks after being eliminated by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round of the 2013 Playoffs as a member of the Ottawa Senators, 39-year-old veteran defenseman Sergei Gonchar signed a two-year, $10 million deal with the Dallas Stars. The deal was done before the 2013 Stanley Cup Finals began.
Gonchar had just finished his 18th NHL season before signing with the Stars. The former 14th overall pick in the 1992 NHL Draft began his career with the Washington Capitals in the 1994-95 season. Gonchar was a member of the Capitals team that went to the 1998 Stanley Cup Finals, but were swept by the Detroit Red WIngs.
The Capitals traded Gonchar to the Boston Bruins at the trade deadline in the 2003-04 season. After the 2004-05 lockout, Gonchar began his tenure with the Penguins for the next five seasons. Gonchar was a member of Pittsburgh’s back-to-back Stanley Cup teams including the 2009 championship team.
After five seasons with Pittsburgh, Gonchar joined the Senators in 2010. Gonchar got an opportunity to play with young defenseman Erik Karlsson. After missing the Playoffs in 2011, the Senators went to the Playoffs in 2012 and 2013.
As an eighth seed, the Senators fell in seven games to the New York Rangers in 2012. After upsetting the Montreal Canadiens in round one in 2013 as the seventh seed, the Senators fell to the Penguins in five games in the second round.
(Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)
In the 2013-14 season, Gonchar recorded 22 points (2G, 20A) and a -12 rating in his first season as a Star while playing 76 games. Gonchar’s 20 assists were tied for seventh on the Stars that season with Valeri Nichushkin. The Stars made the Playoffs for the first time since 2008 and were the second Wild Card seed.
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The Stars faced off against the Anaheim Ducks in the first round of the 2014 Playoffs, Gonchar struggled playing in all six games of the series and recorded no points and recorded a -3 rating. The Stars were eliminated in six games after a 5-4 overtime loss in Dallas.
The 2014-15 season for Gonchar in Dallas wouldn’t last long. After playing three games and recording just one assist, the Stars traded Gonchar to the Canadiens in exchange for Travis Moen on Nov. 11, 2014. In his Stars tenure, Gonchar recorded 23 points (2G, 21A) in 79 games.
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Moen played in 57 games and recorded 11 points (3G, 8A) for the Stars following the trade.
In Montreal, Gonchar recorded 13 points (1G, 12A) in 45 games. The Canadiens fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round six games in the 2015 Playoffs. Gonchar didn’t play in the 2015 Playoffs. The 2014-15 season would be Gonchar’s final season in his 20-year career after being released by the Penguins after a professional tryout after the 2015 preseason.
Gonchar totaled for 811 points (220G, 591A) in 1,301 career games. Following the 2016-17 season, Gonchar was hired by the Penguins as an assistant coach until the conclusion of the 2019-20 season. In January 2023, the Vancouver Canucks hired Gonchar as the Defensive Development coach.
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