The Chicago Blackhawks were rumored to be entertaining the idea of a trade involving Patrick Sharp as the new salary cap rules would've made extremely difficult to keep him, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane in the same team. Several teams were reported to be interested in the veteran forward but the Dallas Stars were always considered the favorite to land the 12-year veteran.

Today the rumors were finally put to an end as the Stars have reportedly acquired Sharp. The deal will be a four-player trade as the Stars have also received defender Stephen Johns while the Blackhawks have landed D Trevor Daley and forward Ryan Garbutt.

The Stars will certainly get a boost on their offense with the presence of Patrick Sharp. Aside from being an integral part of a Chicago dynasty that won three Stanley Cups in the last six years, he has a lot of experience under his belt and he's the ultimate competitor. Sharp will increase the depth of an already forward group that includes a veteran like Jason Spezza, two of the biggest up-and-coming stars in Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin and Russian youngster Valeri Nichushkin.

Sharp should add a huge scoring punch to the team as he has scored 30 goals in three of the past five seasons. He posted 43 points in 68 regular season games for the Blackhawks last season.

Dallas' GM Jim Nill was thrilled with the trade and he told reporters that "Patrick's track record speaks for itself having won three Stanley Cups, a Calder Cup and an Olympic gold medal", Nill said. "He will provide leadership for our group and we love his shoot first mentality."

Dallas has also received D Stephen Johns in the deal. The former 2010 draft pick was signed by the Blackhawks on a two-year deal in 2014 but he has never played a single minute at the NHL level. Johns should bolster the depth of Dallas' AHL affiliate - the Texas Stars - and could see some NHL time as Dallas doesn't have a lot of depth on the defensive end of the ice. Johns recently spent his rookie season with Rockford in the AHL and posted 21 points in 51 games.

The Blakckhawks made the trade in order to get some salary relief but there's no question that they added two players worthy of seeing consistent minutes looking towards the 2015-16 season. Daley is better suited as a third-pair defensemen and he has spent all of his 11 seasons with the Stars, where his 756 career games are the second most in the history of the franchise and his 231 points are fourth-most since the franchise moved from Minnesota to Dallas.

Garbutt, on the other hand, is an enforcer who's not afraid to throw his body against the opposition, although he's able to find the net consistently when given enough minutes on the ice. Garbutt had been with Dallas since 2011 and recorded 70 points in 198 career games across four seasons.

There's no question the trade works really well for both teams but the Stars can be considered early winners. They already had a roster capable of battling for a playoff spot in the tough Western Conference and the addition of Sharp should only increase their chances on the upcoming season.