Stars Sign Justin Hryckowian To Two-Year Extension
The Stars announced that they have signed forward Justin Hryckowian to a two-year extension. He’ll earn an average annual value of $950K for a total value of $1.9MM.
Hryckowian, 24, was an undrafted free agent signing out of Northeastern in 2024 and is in the back half of his two-year, entry-level contract. He was technically left off Dallas’ opening night roster for cap considerations, but was called up the following day and has stuck on the big league roster ever since. He’s made 42 out of 43 appearances for the Stars, scoring six goals while adding seven assists for 13 points. He’s averaged 12:04 per game with a -4 rating and leads Dallas forwards with 66 hits.
The 5’11” lefty only suited up in five NHL games last year but otherwise impressed as a rookie with AHL Texas. He played in 67 games for the Baby Stars, finishing second on the team in scoring with 60 points (22 goals, 38 assists). That was tops among first-year AHLers and earned him the Red Garrett Memorial Award as the league’s rookie of the year.
In college, he topped a point per game in his final two seasons at Northeastern and was named the best defensive forward in the Hockey East conference in 2023 and 2024. He may have slipped under the radar earlier in his development by not making the jump to college until his age-20 season, but he’s now well on his way to carving out a role for himself as a bottom-six NHL regular.
While Hryckowian has mostly skated on the left wing in Dallas, he can shift to center fairly easily and has won 56% of his faceoffs this season. Getting a responsible third or fourth-line piece who still has a little bit of untapped upside signed for six figures for multiple seasons is an expectedly shrewd move from three-time NHL general manager of the year Jim Nill.
Hryckowian would have had arbitration rights if he opted for restricted free agency this summer. Now, he’ll be able to walk straight to the open market as a UFA in 2028.
Stars Activate Casey DeSmith, Recall Nathan Bastian
Jan. 5: DeSmith has returned to the team and has been activated from the non-roster list, the team announced. Poirier was sent back to AHL Texas in the corresponding move after backing up Oettinger in Sunday’s loss to the Canadiens. Dallas also recalled Bastian from his conditioning loan; he had two goals and an assist in four games for the AHL Stars.
Jan. 3: The Stars have made a pair of roster moves in advance of their game against Montreal on Sunday. The team announced (Twitter link) that goaltender Casey DeSmith has been granted non-roster status to tend to a personal family matter. Taking his place on the roster will be netminder Remi Poirier, who has been recalled from AHL Texas.
DeSmith is in his second season as the backup in Dallas and he is once again having a strong campaign. In 15 starts, he has posted a 2.44 GAA and a .912 SV%, numbers close to the ones he put up in 27 outings in 2024-25. His save percentage is actually five points higher than starter Jake Oettinger; it’s not often that a backup goalie has better numbers than an established number one option. He won’t be able to improve on those numbers for the time being; there is no timetable for his return.
As for Poirier, the 24-year-old is in his fourth season in the system for the Stars and this will be his first recall since his rookie campaign in 2022-23 where he didn’t see any game action. He has played in 22 games with Texas so far, compiling a 2.77 GAA along with a .903 SV%, his lowest mark at the AHL level so far. He’ll serve as Oettinger’s backup until DeSmith is able to return which should come fairly soon with Victory Plus’ Brian Rea suggesting (Twitter link) that DeSmith could be back with the team as soon as Tuesday.
From a salary cap perspective, Dallas has more than enough space in its LTIR pool with Tyler Seguin and Lian Bichsel both on there so nothing further has to be done on that front. Meanwhile, their active roster remains full as 23 players; even though Nathan Bastian is on a conditioning loan with Texas, he still is on the NHL roster.
Stars Activate, Reassign Luke Krys
The Stars activated defenseman Luke Krys from season-opening injured reserve on Sunday and subsequently reassigned him to the AHL’s Texas Stars, according to the minor league’s transaction log.
Krys, 25, will make his 2025-26 debut this week after completing his recovery from Achilles surgery. After helping Texas to a Western Conference Final appearance in last year’s Calder Cup Playoffs, Krys sustained a minor tear in rookie camp that ended up sidelining him for nearly four months.
Undrafted, the 6’2″ righty signed with Dallas out of Providence College in 2024. Now in the final season of his two-year entry-level contract, Krys has recorded four goals, 15 assists, 19 points, and a +8 rating in 73 AHL appearances since turning pro.
A smooth outlet passer with good two-way instincts, his development track doesn’t point toward him holding down a full-time NHL role, but he could be a capable call-up option down the line if the Stars opt to issue him a qualifying offer and retain him this summer. The Connecticut native’s +11 rating was second among Texas Stars defenders last year.
His return is a bit of a breath of fresh air for a Stars team that isn’t overflowing with organizational depth on the blue line, at least professionally. Dallas only had four NHL-contracted defenders in the minors who were available for recall before Krys’ return.
Stars Assign Nathan Bastian On Conditioning Stint
The Stars announced they’ve loaned right winger Nathan Bastian to AHL Texas for a conditioning stint. Bastian will remain on the active roster and can spend up to two weeks in the minors before Dallas must either keep him in the NHL or place him on waivers.
Bastian was in the lineup for Saturday’s shootout loss to the Blackhawks, but before that, he’d been a healthy scratch in nine consecutive contests. He’s only made seven appearances since Nov. 4 and has dressed in just over half of Dallas’ contests this season.
This wasn’t entirely unforeseen for the 28-year-old. He landed a one-year, one-way deal with the Stars over the offseason for the league minimum and was widely projected as a 13th forward option from the very start, only getting consistent playing time in the early stages of the year due to Jamie Benn‘s and Matt Duchene‘s injuries.
When dressed, the veteran of nearly 300 NHL games has contributed three goals and 48 hits but is still looking for his first assist. An injury-prone fourth-line fixture with the Devils for most of his career, Bastian has averaged a career-low 8:17 of ice time per game.
Bastian’s debut with the Texas Stars will mark his first minor-league action since suiting up with the now-defunct Binghamton Devils in 2019-20. A second-round pick by New Jersey in 2016, he ranks 32nd from that draft class in games played.
Ilya Lyubushkin Out With Illness
- The Dallas Stars will be somewhat shorthanded in their matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks tonight. Earlier today, team reporter Brien Rea shared that defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin would be out of the lineup due to an illness. It’ll be the 12th game that Lyubushkin has missed this season. The eight-year veteran has registered one goal and seven points in 27 games for the Stars across the 2025-26 campaign.
- In the Western Hockey League, one of the Stars’ forward prospects was included in a trade this afternoon. According to a league announcement, the third-place Edmonton Oil Kings have acquired forward Jaxon Fuder from the Red Reed Rebels for Poul Andersen, Boris Sigachev, Brock Stevenson, and a conditional 2027 fourth-round pick. Fuder had scored seven goals and 24 points in 27 games for the Rebels before the trade.
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Latest On Lian Bichsel
- Sam Nestler, Dallas Stars Beat Writer, shared that Lian Bichsel is still at least one week away from any rehab work. Stars Head Coach Glen Gulatzan anticipates the defenseman to be out until around Olympics time in February. Based on the timeline, Bischel will likely return post-Olympic break, assuming the team eases him back into action. In early December, Bichsel was designated as out for around six weeks, after an awkward leg injury sustained against Ottawa, which ended up requiring surgery. Like many other young blueliners, at 21, Bichsel is still working through the adjustment to the NHL game. Standing at 6’7”, he offers little offensively, but if able to progress in a sheltered third pairing role for now, the former first round pick could become a strong middle-pair shutdown option in the future.
Stars Activate Adam Erne From Injured Reserve
The Dallas Stars announced earlier today that Adam Erne has been activated from long term injured reserve. The forward landed on IR in early November, after a lower-body injury sustained against Ottawa on November 11.
It had previously been thought that Erne would return by late November, but thankfully the depth winger appears to be fully healthy.
Now 30, Erne carved out 379 NHL games between Tampa Bay, Detroit, and Edmonton from 2017-24 as a bottom sixer. However, after failing to secure an NHL contract for the 2024-25 season, and being released from a PTO from the AHL’s Hartford Wolfpack after just one assist in 10 games, it seemed as if Erne reached a dead end in North American professional hockey.
Undeterred, after a successful PTO with one of the league’s top teams, Erne bounced back to earn a one-year two-way deal for this season worth $775k. Prior to going down, he notched two goals and an assist in 14 games for the Stars. Although the club remains elite, not much missing a beat over the past few weeks without him, Erne will be a welcome face back tonight in Anaheim with his physicality and forechecking.
Tyler Seguin Undergoes ACL Surgery, Not Yet Ruled Out For Season
The Stars announced today that forward Tyler Seguin had surgery to repair his previously reported torn right ACL on Tuesday. They haven’t yet decided on a timeframe for his return, though, leaving the door open for him to return this season. They’ll reevaluate him and issue a more specific timeframe after the Olympic break, general manager Jim Nill said.
Still, the prognosis doesn’t look good. Undergoing the procedure a full two weeks after he sustained the tear shortens the runway as well. At the time, head coach Glen Gulutzan said they were operating under the assumption that Seguin wouldn’t be back this year.
He can almost surely be ruled out for the regular season. Getting him back for Game 82 would require a turnaround time of four months, essentially unheard of for an ACL tear. His postseason availability is what’s in play, a decision that, for the practical purposes of an all-in contender like the Stars, needs to be made before the March 6 trade deadline.
Seguin has already been placed on long-term injured reserve. Under the extended Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Stars can only get a fraction of Seguin’s $9.85MM cap hit in relief. Because they haven’t ruled him out for the season – including the playoffs – he’s only contributing $3.82MM to their LTIR pool, which currently stands at $5.36MM with Lian Bichsel and Adam Erne also on LTIR.
Ruling him out for the playoffs, a process that requires approval from the league, team medical staff, the player, and the NHLPA, would allow the Stars to apply Seguin’s full cap hit to their LTIR pool, giving them nearly $6MM in added flexibility to make trades before the deadline. Since they’re already in LTIR, they’re not accruing cap space, so the timing of making that decision is inconsequential. All that matters is making the call before executing their inevitable pre-deadline pickup.
The 33-year-old Seguin isn’t quite clicking at the point-per-game pace he flashed in similarly limited availability last season, but he was still a valuable second-line asset with seven goals and 17 points in 27 games before the ACL tear. He was averaging 16:40 of ice time per game, notably his highest workload in four years.
Image courtesy of Jerome Miron-Imagn Images.
Stars Reportedly Interested In Kiefer Sherwood
The trade market for Vancouver Canucks winger Kiefer Sherwood is beginning to materialize and will likely continue growing leading up to the trade deadline. According to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen, the Boston Bruins, Dallas Stars, New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia Flyers, and Tampa Bay Lightning have “kicked the tires” on Sherwood.
He’s remarkably affordable for what he provides, too. Especially for teams like the Bruins, Lightning, Senators, and Stars, who are close to the upper limit of the salary cap, Sherwood’s $1.5MM salary is easily absorbable.
- Sherwood is far from the only middle-six winger that is receiving interest. Speaking on the NHL’s Coast to Coast, insider Frank Seravalli shared that Seattle Kraken forward Mason Marchment is generating traction on the market and may even move before the holiday roster freeze. Unlike Sherwood, Marchment isn’t as affordable ($4.5MM) and is having a disappointing year, scoring four goals and 13 points in 29 games. Still, he’s coming off a four-year run with the Florida Panthers and Stars, where he scored 74 goals and 178 points in 265 games.
Bruins Claim Vladislav Kolyachonok Off Waivers
The Bruins have claimed defenseman Vladislav Kolyachonok off waivers from the Stars, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Kolyachonok, 24, was exposed by Dallas yesterday amid a roster crunch that saw them carrying eight defensemen, five of them lefties – including Kolyachonok. He had cleared waivers successfully to begin the season after being acquired from the Penguins last summer in the Mathew Dumba trade. However, he’d played more than 10 games since being recalled in November in the wake of multiple injuries to Dallas’ defense corps, so they needed to place him on waivers a second time if they wanted to send him back to the AHL’s Texas Stars.
Boston will be Kolyachonok’s fifth NHL stop and sixth organization overall. He was drafted by the Panthers in the second round in 2019 but never played for them, instead debuting for the Coyotes in 2021-22. He made the move to Utah and got some games there before they lost him on waivers to the Penguins last season.
While already racking up an impressive journeyman resume, his frequent appearance on the transaction wire indicates many teams remain intrigued by the 6’2″ lefty’s two-way upside. He’s generally put up fine possession numbers in limited NHL minutes, topping things off with a 5-12–17 scoring line and a -4 rating in 85 career appearances. In 11 games for Dallas since his call-up last month, he had one goal, two assists, a +4 rating, and controlled a team-high 51.2% of shot attempts at even strength.
He now joins a Boston defense group that has a regular in Henri Jokiharju on injured reserve and multiple other depth names – Michael Callahan, Jordan Harris, and Jonathan Aspirot, there with him. Aspirot was moved there today to open the roster spot for Kolyachonok’s claim, already missing one game with an upper-body injury. He’s been ruled out for tonight’s game as a result, but could come off IR for Thursday’s game against the Oilers if he’s ready to return.
If Kolyachonok wants to finally land an everyday job in an NHL lineup, though, he’ll need to get comfortable playing on his off side. Boston’s three left-shot options are locked in as Hampus Lindholm, Mason Lohrei, and Nikita Zadorov each feature on their own pairings. With a righty in Jokiharju and a lefty who routinely plays the right side in Aspirot sidelined, though, there’s an opening for him to leapfrog Victor Söderström for playing time and get into the Bruins’ lineup.
Kolyachonok is in the back half of a two-year, league-minimum deal, so Boston’s only on the hook for a $775K cap hit and salary. He’ll be a restricted free agent next offseason with arbitration rights.
Image courtesy of Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images.