The Stars have signed restricted free agent forward Antonio Stranges to a one-year deal, his agent, Gold Star Hockey’s Dan Milstein, announced Wednesday on X. PuckPedia reports it’s a two-way deal worth $775K in the NHL and $100K in the AHL.
Stranges, 23, was a fourth-round pick by Dallas in the 2020 draft. The skilled but inconsistent left-winger signed his entry-level contract near the end of his final junior season with the OHL’s London Knights in 2022.
The Michigan native’s development since turning pro in earnest three years ago has followed a linear track. He split an injury-plagued 2022-23 season between AHL Texas and ECHL Idaho, producing well at both levels when healthy. He’s stuck around in the AHL since, posting 23 games in 55 games two years ago before breaking out for an 18-25–43 scoring line in 55 games last season.
He’s still got a ways to go to prove he can be consistent enough of a scoring presence for a potential third-line role in Dallas down the line. He’s likely not a candidate to crack the opening night roster in the fall, but he will need to clear waivers if the Stars want to send him back to the minors. Another step forward in Texas in 2025-26 could put him in line for a one-way contract and an NHL job in 2026-27.
Despite his loads of professional experience, Stranges will again be a restricted free agent next summer, assuming the Stars choose to extend a qualifying offer to him again. He’ll still be too young to qualify for Group VI unrestricted free agent status.
People are strange, when you’re a Stranges.
Faces look ugly, when you’re in Dallas.
Great Hollywood name.