The Dallas Stars have completed a grand piece of business on Thursday. They extended goaltender Jake Oettinger to a new contract. Oettinger’s new contract is an eight-year deal at $8.25M AAV.
? IS HERE TO STAY!@Shift4 | #TexasHockey pic.twitter.com/Dqtci4Cckp
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) October 17, 2024
Eight More Years of Oettinger
The Stars have locked down their superstar goaltender for nearly another decade. Oettinger was set to become a restricted free agent at the end of this season. He’s currently finishing his three-year contract at $4M per year. That deal has turned out to be a steal for Dallas and the Minnesota native was due for a raise. He’s started this campaign by catching fire right out of the gate. Oettinger and the Stars have yet to lose a game this season, and they picked up three wins in the process. The netminder is currently fifth among all goaltenders in the NHL for save percentage and goals against average. An impressive .948 save percentage and 1.63 GAA keep the Stars first in the Central Division and second in the entire league. He’s also only one of seven goaltenders to record a shut-out this season.
Dallas Set for the Future
Furthermore, the Stars have several important cornerstones solidified in the organization. Like Oettinger, Miro Heiskanen was locked up by Dallas in 2021 when they also signed him to an eight-year deal. However, in the near future they need to look out for more players who will need big extensions. Wyatt Johnston is a young superstar in this league at the age of 21. However, his contract is up at the end of this season. Also, elite goal scorer Jason Robertson‘s contract negotiations will have to be visited in a year or two.
General manager Jim Nill has done an excellent job at building a young competitive team. However, he has his work cut out for him and will be kept busy with contracts over the next little while.
Main Photo Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images