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Stars Sign Harrison Scott To Entry-Level Contract

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The Stars signed undrafted free agent forward Harrison Scott to a one-year entry-level deal for next season, PuckPedia reports Monday. The deal carries a cap hit of $975K and pays him a base salary of $877.5K in the NHL and $85K in the minors, and includes a $97.5K signing bonus.

Scott, 24, is coming off a standout senior season with the University of Maine. He led the club in scoring with 18-17–35 in 38 games, tying in goals with recently-signed Avalanche prospect Taylor Makar. All those totals were career highs, as was his +13 rating.

The San Jose native began his collegiate career with Bentley in 2021, posting 26 points in 65 games for the program before transferring to Maine ahead of his junior season. He put up 15-12–27 in 37 games to break out with the Black Bears, so his progress toward his senior totals was linear.

Scott checks in at 6’0″ and 185 lbs and will aim to make a seamless transition to professional hockey with AHL Texas next season. He’ll need to do well enough in his first professional season to warrant a qualifying offer from the Stars, as he projects to be a restricted free agent next summer. He’s the second player from our Brian La Rose’s preview of forwards on the college free agent market to sign today, joining the Islanders’ Joey Larson.

While Scott’s age means he likely doesn’t top out as anything more than a fourth-line energy piece at the NHL level, he adds some juice to a Stars club that’s graduated almost all its impact prospects to full-time NHL roles.

Miro Heiskanen Resumes Skating

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  • In a positive update for the Dallas Stars, independent writer Robert Tiffin reported earlier that defenseman Miro Heiskanen had officially resumed skating. Recent reporting indicated that Dallas wasn’t expecting Heiskanen back for their first-round matchup in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs. However, with more than three weeks remaining in the regular season, Heiskanen’s return to skating may mean he’ll return earlier than expected from his knee surgery.

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Stars Sign Trey Taylor To Entry-Level Deal

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The Stars signed left-shot defenseman Trey Taylor to a two-year entry-level contract earlier this week, per a team release. The deal begins next season, but he’ll finish out 2024-25 on a tryout with AHL Texas. His contract carries a cap hit of $975K and includes a base salary of $877.5K, a signing bonus of $97.5K, and a minors salary of $85K each season, according to PuckPedia.

Taylor turns pro after recently completing his junior season at Clarkson University, where he was teammates with recently-signed Dallas prospect Ayrton Martino. Unlike Martino, Taylor wasn’t already in the Stars’ system. Undrafted after initially becoming eligible for selection in 2020, the 6’2″ lefty didn’t even touch college hockey until what would have been his DY+3 season. After spending time in high-level juniors with the Vernon Vipers of the British Columbia Hockey League and the Youngstown Phantoms of the United States Hockey League, the B.C. native jumped to Clarkson for the 2022-23 campaign.

After not making much of an impression in a depth role in his freshman year, Taylor impressed in expanded usage in 2023-24. He put together a dominant two-way performance for Clarkson, posting 4-13–17 in 35 games while adding a +20 rating that earned him ECAC Best Defensive Defenseman honors. This season, Taylor improved offensively with a 9-20–29 scoring line in 39 games while serving as an alternate captain, repeating his performance as the conference’s best shutdown defenseman as well.

A sound collegiate performance should allow him to step in as an impact defender at the AHL level somewhat seamlessly. The road ahead to NHL minutes on the Stars’ blue line is less clear, especially on a team with Thomas Harley, Esa Lindell, and Lian Bichsel penciled in as its top three left-side defenders for years to come, so it’ll be interesting to see if he gets reps on his off side in Texas. He’ll be under contract through 2026-27, after which he’ll be a restricted free agent.

Stars Sign Ayrton Martino To Entry-Level Contract

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March 25: Dallas announced shortly thereafter that they inked Martino to a two-year, entry-level pact beginning next season. PuckPedia reflects his deal will carry a $775K base salary in each season along with up to $57.5K in performance bonuses, an annual $92.5K signing bonus, and an $80K minors salary for a cap hit of $867.5K. He will be a restricted free agent at age 24 in the summer of 2027.

March 24: Stars prospect Ayrton Martino will finish the 2024-25 season in the organization on a tryout with AHL Texas, per the league’s transaction log. The move is likely a precursor to the 2021 third-round pick signing his entry-level contract with Dallas in the coming days.

Martino, 22, is coming off a standout senior season at Clarkson University. The 5’11” left-winger had sniffed a point per game over his three previous collegiate seasons but exploded for 25-26–51 in 39 games this year. That made him one of the 10 finalists for this year’s Hobey Baker Award, and he’s currently tied for fourth in NCAA scoring. Clarkson isn’t in this year’s national tournament, though, so he’ll likely be lapped by a couple of players who are when all is said and done.

In his draft year, Martino was viewed as a bit of a steal when Dallas selected him 73rd overall. Most identified him as an early-to-mid second-round talent after he posted 56 points in 38 games with the Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League. Nonetheless, he slipped to the Stars – where he’s now the No. 5 overall prospect and No. 2 forward prospect in a pool that’s taken a huge hit with recent graduations, per Scott Wheeler of The Athletic.

He’s nearly a lock to get his ELC with Dallas, and while he should be ticketed for the AHL opening night roster next fall, he could be under consideration for a brief call-up next year if he takes the adjustment to pro hockey in stride. The Toronto native totaled 50-95–145 in 144 games for Clarkson. If not signed by Dallas, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent on Aug. 15.

Stars Hopeful Tyler Seguin Can Return Before End Of Regular Season

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Stars forward Tyler Seguin will travel with the team on their upcoming road trip after recently returning to practice, head coach Peter DeBoer told reporters today (including Sam Nestler of DLLS Sports). He’ll still likely be sidelined well into April, but the possibility of him coming off long-term injured reserve – or at least getting a conditioning stint with AHL Texas – before the postseason is coming into view.

Seguin hit the injured list 19 games into the season, undergoing two surgeries on his left hip in December. He was initially given a four-to-six-month return timeline, so the possibility of April game action isn’t too surprising. It’s nonetheless a great sign for Seguin, who had multiple issues in his recovery from a similar surgery on his right hip at the beginning of the decade that threatened his career.

Getting Seguin acclimated in a forward group that’s since acquired Mikael Granlund and Mikko Rantanen is a legitimate priority for Dallas heading into the postseason. The 33-year-old started the season on a tear, posting 9-11–20 with a +14 rating in 19 games. Assuming he doesn’t add to that total, it will stand as his first season above a point-per-game pace since 2015-16. He did so on a line with Matt Duchene and Mason Marchment, a role that’s been filled by Granlund since his acquisition from the Sharks last month. The Finn hasn’t been quite as productive as Seguin was in those minutes, though, posting 3-9–12 in 18 games since the trade.

Even if Seguin’s playoff scoring over the past few years isn’t particularly outstanding, adding him back to a top-nine role – potentially bumping Granlund down or reuniting on a “third” line with Jamie Benn and Wyatt Johnston – is a mouth-watering prospect for DeBoer. Getting him back up to speed to kick off Game 1 of a likely first-round meeting with the Avalanche is paramount, especially since they’ll likely need to focus their efforts on outpacing Colorado’s similarly well-constructed offense to win the series. Star defenseman Miro Heiskanen likely won’t be returning from his knee injury until the second round if they make it.

Seguin still has two years remaining on his deal with a $9.85MM cap hit, so this playoff run won’t be a last hurrah with Dallas. They are, however, likely to lose nearly all of their pending free agents with just $5.32MM in cap room for 2025-26 and up to seven roster spots to fill, per PuckPedia. Since returning from his first hip surgery, Seguin has 79-92–171 in 244 games.

The Stars don’t quite have enough cap space to activate Seguin at present, but it’s doable if they send one player down to the minors. That would likely be rookie Mavrik Bourque, who was a healthy scratch this weekend.

Stars Expecting Tyler Seguin Back, Miro Heiskanen Out For First Round

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The postseason availability of two pillars of the Dallas Stars’ lineup became clearer at Tuesday’s practice. Winger Tyler Seguin is continuing to improve and could be healthy before the end of the regular season, head coach Pete DeBoer shared with Brian Rea of Bally Sports Southwest. Seguin has missed Dallas’ last 43 games with a hip injury sustained on December 1st. In more negative news, DeBoer also told Rea that there’s a realistic chance Dallas plays the First Round without star defenseman Miro Heiskanen. Heiskanen has missed Dallas’ last 16 games after sustaining a knee injury on January 28th.

The injury updates bring highs and lows. Adding Seguin back to the lineup will go a long way towards giving Dallas one of the most complete forward groups in the NHL. The 33-year-old Stars legend has continued to produce into the golden years of his career, netting nine goals and 20 points in 19 games before his injury. That’s an 82-game pace of 39 goals and 86 points, which would both stand as career-highs – though the likelihood of Seguin maintaining his point-per-game scoring through an entire season aren’t sky-high. Even then, he’s remained a consistent scorer down the lineup – surpassing the 20 goal and 50 point mark in each of the last two seasons. He fell one point short of 50 in 2021-22.

Seguin sits 12 games back from his 1,000th career game in the NHL. Nearly all of those appearances – 785 over the course of 12 seasons, to be exact – have come with the Dallas Stars. Over that time, Seguin has amassed the fifth-most goals (304), assists (383), and points (687) in franchise history. He’s consistently maintained his hot scoring into the postseason, with 71 points in 133 career playoff games and 13 points in 19 games just last season. Seguin averaged just 16 minutes of playing time prior to his injury – marking a career low, save for his rookie season. But his ability to continue producing in those minutes is invaluable, and should give Dallas a major boost as they near the final games of their season.

Unfortunately, they’ll need all the boost they can get with potential Norris Trophy candidate Heiskanen set for a continued absence. Heiskanen was scoring at a modest pace this season – netting 25 points in 50 games prior to injury – but he made up for it with fantastic impacts in all three zones. The 25-year-old was averaging 25:10 in ice time prior to his injury, marking the fifth-straight season that he’s played more than 24:30 each night. He’s averaged more ice time than any other Star, and performed well enough to support the struggling right-shot defenders like Cody Ceci, Matt Dumba, and Ilya Lyubushkin.

Without Heiskanen in the lineup, Dallas has been forced to turn to 23-year-old Thomas Harley with their top-pair role. Harley has taken full advantage of the opportunity, netting 16 points in 16 games and playing as much as 27 minutes a night since Heiskanen’s injury. It’s been a welcome breakout performance – and one that should supplant Heiskanen’s impact until he’s back to full health. Dallas will certainly hope that’s the case, as they eye a potential best-of-seven series without their clear top defender. If Harley can help push the team through and Heiskanen’s timeline holds true, Dallas could enter the second round with one of the best left-defense corps in the NHL.

Stars Reassign Kyle Capobianco

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  • The Dallas Stars have reassigned depth defenseman Kyle Capobianco after recalling him on Saturday to fill in for the ill Lian Bichsel. Capobianco served as Dallas’ seventh man in their Saturday night matchup against the Colorado Avalanche, while Brendan Smith filled Bichsel’s role. This was only Capobianco’s second call-up since joining the Dallas Stars organization this summer. He appeared in his only NHL game of the season on January 31st – and set no scoring, four penalty minutes, and a minus-two in 11:23 of ice time. He’s otherwise been a fixture of the AHL lineup, where he’s managed an impressive 35 points in 49 games. That mark leads the AHL Texas Stars’ blue-line in scoring, though it is slightly below the scoring pace that led Capobianco to 54 points in 69 games with the Manitoba Moose last season.

Mikko Rantanen Says He Didn’t Want To Leave Avalanche

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Although it’s almost unheard of for a 100-point scorer to be traded twice in the same season, that’s precisely the situation Dallas Stars winger Mikko Rantanen experienced this year. However, ahead of playing the Colorado Avalanche for the first time tomorrow, Rantanen is stating he never desired to leave the team, via Sportsnet.

In 10 seasons with the club, Rantanen registered 287 goals, 394 assists and 681 points. He added 101 points in 81 games in the playoffs and played a vital role in the club’s 2021-22 Stanley Cup championship.

However, the Avs shipped the star winger to the Hurricanes on January 24 in a three-team deal after contract negotiations stalled. It was a deal that sent shockwaves through the hockey world. In addition to Rantanen, Carolina received Taylor Hall, and Nils Juntorp, Colorado received Martin Necas, Jack Drury, a 2025 second-round pick, a 2026 fourth-round pick, and Chicago received a third-round pick (via Carolina) and retained half of Rantanen’s salary.

While the Avs and Rantanen tried to finalize an extension in the final year of his contract, terms were not reached and the ultimate decision to ship off the two-time 100-point scorer was made. Ironically, the Hurricanes ran into a similar scenario with the Finnish star, and eventually made the decision to deal him to the Stars on March 7. The third team proved to be the charm for Rantanen, who immediately agreed to an eight-year contract extension worth $96MM, worth a cap hit of $12MM.

Ahead of tomorrow’s big matchup between his current and former clubs, Rantanen looked to clear the air with reporters about the bizarre circumstances surrounding his season. Meeting with Denver reporters, Rantanen led off his comments by thanking the Avalanche franchise (and its fans) for their years of support and then backed it up by stating he never wanted to leave Colorado. He noted the trade to the Hurricanes as “weird,” and said he believed he and the team were still in the negotiation process with six weeks remaining before the trade deadline. Rantanen said that’s when he was informed of the trade.

Rantanen also discussed how hard the last few months have been being traded twice before finally finding his home with Dallas. And while tomorrow marks his return to Colorado and first game against the team that drafted him 10th overall in the 2015 draft, the chances these two teams meet in the playoffs are high. If the season ended now, the two teams would square off in the first round of the playoffs.

Roope Hintz, Lian Bichsel Near Returns

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  • The Stars are also getting a few key players back in the fold, as left winger Roope Hintz (face) and defender Lian Bichsel (illness) skated with the team today, per Stars reporter Mike Heika. The return of Hintz is an obvious boost to the lineup, as the 28-year-old is on his way to his fourth-straight 30-plus goal season. Hintz was injured when he took a puck to the face during a contest against the Oilers on March 8. In 59 contests this season, Hintz has 25 goals, 26 assists, and 51 points. Bichsel missed the Stars’ Friday night matchup against the Wild due to illness and was replaced in the lineup by veteran Brendan Smith. The 20-year-old Bichsel has looked the part of an NHL-ready player, posting five points and a plus-6 rating in his first 22 career contests. Bichsel was the organization’s first-round selection in the 2021 draft (18th overall). It remains to be seen if Hintz and/or Bichsel will be available for tomorrow’s matchup against the Ducks.

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