The Dallas Stars’ free agent moves began with a flurry of signings when the NHL’s signing period opened at noon ET on Monday.
The Stars had to move quickly to secure improvements at the weak spots of their lineup. But did the moves made really improve the team?
Many fans and analysts believe they did not improve, but let’s look deeper at the Dallas Stars free agent signings.
Stars Free Agent Moves
Filling Out the Forwards
After sending forward Ty Dellandrea to San Jose before free agency, the Stars’ early free agent moves were to secure their own forwards. Matt Duchene returns on a one-year, $3 million deal. His performance on the second line last season warranted a second contract with the club, and his leadership can help the locker room try to sustain the losses of Joe Pavelski and Ryan Suter.
Dallas also shipped forward Radek Faksa to St. Louis for future considerations, opening cap space and a spot on the Stars’ fourth line. That helped the Stars re-sign Sam Steel, who will likely slide into Faksa’s spot. That would be an upgrade for Dallas as Steel is four years younger than Faksa and seems to be on an upswing after a strong finish to the season.
With about $7.1 million remaining in cap space, it is possible the Stars add more competition to the bottom six.
Building the Blue Line
Defence was the Stars’ priority in free agency after an inconsistent year on that end of the ice. The addition of Chris Tanev at the trade deadline helped exponentially, but his contract demands as an unrestricted free agent led to a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Toronto gave Tanev a six-year deal worth about $4.5 million annually.
Dallas brought back Thomas Harley as a restricted free agent and Nils Lundkvist on an unrestricted deal. Still, the Stars had to address their right-handed defender plight and lack of depth on the blue line. They tended to both with a bulk of free agent moves.
The Stars added three new defencemen: Matt Dumba, Brendan Smith, and Ilya Lyubushkin. Dumba is the most accomplished of the three, but his play has declined in recent years, leading many Stars’ fans to resent the signing.
Dallas Stars sign free agent defenseman Matt Dumba to two-year deal.
Us Stars fans still don’t feel this dude, but if he can deliver hits for us and still not get suspended… I’ll live with it.https://t.co/w8DKZdotT4 pic.twitter.com/eQx5c7B4hJ— DFW Sports Rapz (@DruskiSelfMade) July 2, 2024
While Jim Nill has won back-to-back GM of the Year Awards, Stars fans are right to question these moves. Tanev was likely not going to be affordable, but the deals to replace him seem like a band-aid at best.
The 10-year veteran Dumba is coming off the worst two seasons of his career and now figures to slide into the Stars’ second defence pairing. Smith is an offensively-driven defenceman who even occasionally played forward during his time in Detroit, and giving a $3.25 million annual salary to an underperforming, 30-year-old defenceman like Lyubushkin is a high risk.
There are still defence options available, but Dallas would need to find an affordable deal that makes sense.
Goalie Shuffle
The Stars reshuffled their goaltending group with a few surprise moves. Starter Jake Oettinger remains, but the rest of the group has changed.
After rumours of difficult negotiations, Scott Wedgewood left for the Nashville Predators. Dallas chose to replace him with Casey DeSmith. While Wedgewood was a fan and locker room favorite, DeSmith has collected more wins and owns a better goals-against average in his career with a similar save percentage. He also cost less than Wedgewood in terms of annual salary.
The Stars also surprised many by renouncing restricted free agent Matt Murray. Murray had spent the last two seasons up and down between the NHL and the AHL. It was widely known that Dallas needed to decide on his involvement in the team’s future plans, and the answer turned out to be that he wasn’t part of them.
That leaves Dallas with two goalies at this point. They could choose to carry three goalies on the roster, but the current front office has not made that a common practice. It also has not been the case since Pete DeBoer became Dallas’ head coach.
Overall Haul
The Dallas Stars attacked the first wave of NHL free agency by stabilizing their forwards and attempting to secure improvements to their biggest weakness: defence. While Chris Tanev would have been priority No.1, he was apparently not in Dallas’ price range.
Instead, they took gambles. They brought in players with limited production or players on the back end of their careers, and fans are not enthused. But, if it works out, Jim Nill looks like a genius and could be up for a third straight GM of the Year award.
They clearly wanted to upgrade while maintaining their offensive potency, and while many of the Stars’ moves were underwhelming, they targeted areas of need. Plus, the offseason is just beginning, so there could be more ahead.
Main Photo: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
