The Dallas Stars signed Miro Heiskanen, their restricted free agent defenseman, to an eight-year contract worth $67.6 million, or $8.45 million per season. This contract carries him through the 2028-29 season.
MIROOOOOOOO! 🙌
We have signed Miro Heiskanen to an 8-year contract extension through the 2028-29 season
📝 » https://t.co/xO2feRBrZ2 pic.twitter.com/5RxyMdYeIa
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) July 17, 2021
Dallas Stars Signed Miro Heiskanen
Over his three-year NHL career, Heiskanen has played only for the Stars thus far. Originally drafted in the first round, third overall of the 2017 NHL draft by Dallas, the 22-year old will be sticking with the franchise. His career totals sit at 28 goals and 67 assists for 95 total points, in 205 games. Heiskanen’s rookie season (2018-19) saw him finish fourth in Calder voting for the league’s top rookie player. His ice time sat at a high 23:07 per game that year, remarkable for the first-year defenseman at 19 years of age. That usage has only increased, too. He’s coming off a season where he averaged 24:58 per night in ice time.
Last year, Heiskanen scored eight goals and 19 assists for 27 points in 55 contests. Though a slight dip in production per game from the season before, the whole Stars team dipped in 2020-21. He remains one of the highest-touted young defensemen in the entire league.
What This Means for the Future
The Stars lost in six games to the Tampa Bay Lightning of the 2019-20 Stanley Cup Finals. Dallas then went on to miss the playoffs altogether in 2020-21. After playing in the NHL’s Central Division in the re-aligned 2020-21 COVID-19 impacted season, they return to the Western Conference next season. That being said, the Central Division they go back to next year is arguably tougher than the Central Division they missed the playoffs in last year.
With all that in mind, Dallas still should be a top candidate for a bounce-back year. Their roster contains plenty of experience, scoring depth, defensive prowess and high-end goaltending. Last year should be an outlier for this team unless age finally catches up with them. Heiskanen helps fight against their age issue, and he will be a mainstay on this team for years to come.
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