Dallas Stars Sign Aram Minnetian To Entry-Level Deal
The Dallas Stars announced that they have signed defenseman Aram Minnetian to a three-year entry-level contract, set to begin in the 2026-27 season. Minnetian will first sign an ATO to play for the AHL’s Texas Stars for the rest of the season.
A fourth-round pick of the Stars at the 2023 draft, Minnetian has spent the last three years playing college hockey at Boston College. By signing this contract, he has concluded his collegiate career at the end of his junior year. The 21-year-old New Jersey native developed into an impactful two-way top-four defenseman in college, utilizing his above-average skating and range to provide value on both ends of the ice.
He was the Eagles’ No. 1 defenseman this season, playing a heavy workload including a team-leading amount of ice time on the penalty kill. He entered the season ranked as Dallas’ No. 3 prospect by the team at Elite Prospects, with the outlet projecting him as a future No. 4 or No. 5 defenseman in the NHL. The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler ranked Minnetian as Dallas’ No. 6 prospect, calling him a “decisive, confident, consistent player in all areas.”
Minnetian will join an AHL stars team that looks to be a safe bet to reach the league’s postseason. Signing there will allow him to get his feet wet in pro hockey in a lower-stakes environment than the NHL, while still allowing him to play in important games for a team looking to chase down a Calder Cup.
Stars Notes: Rantanen, Hintz, Faksa, Robertson
There’s some light at the end of the tunnel on the injury front for Dallas. Speaking on DFW The Ticket’s Bruce LeVine (all Twitter links), GM Jim Nill indicated that winger Mikko Rantanen is nearing a return to the lineup.
Injured back in the Olympics, the 29-year-old still sits third on the team in scoring despite missing the last 12 games, tallying 20 goals and 49 assists in 54 games in his first full season in Dallas. Nill noted that he has been skating on his own for the last week and is expected to accompany the team on their upcoming four-game road trip. If all goes well, he could return for one of the back-to-back games against Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
Dallas is only three points behind Colorado heading into tonight’s action for first in the Western Conference, a spot that would give them a much easier matchup in the first round compared to taking on Minnesota, one of the top teams in the league. Getting Rantanen back with a couple of weeks left in the season would certainly give them a boost in that pursuit.
Unfortunately for the Stars, the other injury news isn’t quite as positive. Nill added that center Roope Hintz has yet to resume skating as he continues to battle a lower-body injury that has kept him out for a little more than two weeks. At this point, the team is hopeful that the 29-year-old could be back for the final week of the season or the start of the playoffs. Hintz has played in 53 games this season, collecting 19 goals and 25 assists.
Meanwhile, Radek Faksa’s situation is even murkier. Nill noted that the center is dealing with a “unique injury” with “really no history as far as healing time.” As a result, there is no timetable for his return although they are hopeful that he could be ready for the playoffs. In his first season back with Dallas after returning in free agency this summer, Faksa has 17 points in 56 games while being their most-used forward on the penalty kill.
Nill was also asked about Jason Robertson’s contract discussions. The winger is slated to become a restricted free agent this summer where he will be owed a qualifying offer of $9.3MM. He’ll also only be one season away from UFA eligibility and could simply elect to go for a hearing, take a one-year award, and test the open market in 2027. That’s an outcome the Stars are clearly hoping to avoid.
Nill indicated that he has held discussions with Robertson’s new representation; back in January, both Robertson brothers hired Octagon’s Andy Scott as their new agent. However, with the stretch run and playoffs ahead, both sides agree that they want the 26-year-old focused on playing at the moment. That suggests that future talks have been tabled for the time being and will be rekindled in the offseason. Robertson is the leading scorer for the Stars this season, picking up 38 goals and 44 assists in 69 games. It’s the fourth straight season that he has reached the 80-point mark.
Stars Sign Dylan Hryckowian To Entry-Level Contract
The Dallas Stars may again have brothers on the same team next season. According to a team announcement, the Stars have signed Dylan Hryckowian to a two-year, entry-level contract. He’ll finish the year on an amateur tryout agreement with the AHL’s Texas Stars.
Dylan, of course, is the brother of Dallas forward Justin Hryckowian. The two last played together at Northeastern University throughout the 2023-24 season, when Justin was captain, and Dylan was in his freshman campaign.
They’ve had an eerily similar path to the NHL. Each of them played on the same teams in their youth, committed to and played at Northeastern, and signed with the Stars as undrafted free agents.
Even their production in the NCAA was similar as Dylan finished with 107 points in 100 games, and Justin finished with 101 points in 94 games. Each ended their tenure in college averaging 1.07 points per game.
Like Justin, Dylan should be able to carve out a role in the Stars’ bottom six if he makes the team next year or is called up at any point during the regular season. He has an extremely high motor, using his speed to beat opponents to the puck in all three zones.
Assuming his time in the AHL goes well to end the year, it wouldn’t be out of the question for the younger Hryckowian to make the team’s opening night roster. Given their salary cap table, the Stars need all the depth they can get their hands on, especially on the cheaper side of things.
Stars Sign Jack Anderson To Entry-Level Deal
The Stars have signed college free agent defenseman Jack Anderson to a two-year, entry-level deal, per a team announcement. He’ll report to AHL Texas on a tryout to finish the season before his NHL contract goes into effect for 2026-27, Stephen Meserve of 100 Degree Hockey writes.
The 23-year-old Anderson spent the first three seasons of his collegiate career at Lindenwood but transferred to Michigan Tech for his senior season. The shift from independent play to the CCHA unlocked the towering 6’6″, 225-lb lefty, as he posted career-highs across the board. Anderson was the Huskies’ clear-cut #1, finishing fifth on the team with an 11-13–24 scoring line in 39 games while adding 33 penalty minutes and a +13 rating.
Anderson had never topped two goals or 10 points in a season with Lindenwood before transferring, so it was a rather significant breakout for the St. Louis native. He’ll now find his professional footing in Texas, where the Stars only have four defensemen signed through next season who are ticketed for minor-league roles. He immediately becomes the largest and heaviest player on the AHL roster for a team that’s shown a propensity for adding size on the blue line in recent years, drafting 6’7″ Lian Bichsel in the first round in 2022 and acquiring 6’8″ Tyler Myers at this year’s trade deadline.
Dallas will see Anderson reach restricted free agency for the first time in 2028. They’ll have him under team control until 2030.
Stars Notes: Rantanen, Coleman, Hintz, Faksa
The Dallas Stars will be without their highest-paid player for a little while longer. According to radio analyst Bruce LeVine, winger Mikko Rantanen is 10 to 14 days away from returning, if not more.
Owen Newkirk of DLLS Sports offered additional context, providing a quote from head coach Glen Gulutzan, saying, “We are hoping somewhere in the 2-2.5 week range we could have him back.” At the longer end of that timeline, that means that Rantanen may not return to the Stars’ lineup until the first week of April.
Rantanen suffered his current lower-body injury during the Olympics, missing the Bronze medal game for Team Finland. Regardless, Dallas has performed remarkably well in his absence, managing an 8-0-1 record since returning from the Olympics, outscoring opponents by a margin of 21.
Additional Stars notes:
- Despite acquiring Michael Bunting from the Nashville Predators a day before the deadline, the Stars weren’t necessarily satisfied with their forward corps. According to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, Dallas circled back with the Calgary Flames regarding Blake Coleman. Unfortunately, any potential Coleman acquisition would have necessitated the Stars moving out another contract, which they were unable to accomplish before the deadline.
- In the previous report from LeVine, he added that Roope Hintz and Radek Faksa are further away from returning than Rantanen. Hintz (lower-body) has been out for the last week and a half, but he was fortunately able to avoid surgery. Unfortunately, the outlook is more grim on Faksa, who sustained a lower-body injury in his recovery from the upper-body injury he suffered during the Olympics. He is unlikely to return during the regular season.
Stars Recall Arttu Hyry
The Stars announced they’ve recalled forward Arttu Hyry from AHL Texas. He was sent down last week to make room for Michael Bunting on the active roster after his acquisition from the Predators. With the roster limit no longer in effect, he can come back up as Dallas still has $1.96MM of cap space left in their LTIR pool.
Unless there’s another forward who’s questionable for tonight’s game against the Blackhawks, Hyry’s recall doesn’t fall under emergency conditions and will take up the first of five allotted post-deadline recalls in Dallas. The Stars do have 13 forwards on the active roster, but only 12 are available after news that top center Roope Hintz is week-to-week with the lower-body injury he sustained Friday night against the Avalanche. Now, Dallas has an extra one on hand to rotate in at will.
Hyry, 24, had spent the entire season in the AHL until being recalled at the end of February, also due to a period of unavailability from Hintz (that time due to illness). The undrafted free agent is in his second year in the organization, which signed him to an entry-level contract out of Kärpät in Finland’s top division, Liiga, in 2024.
The 6’3″, 211-lb forward can play both center and right wing and has appeared in nine games for Dallas over the past two seasons, recording an assist and a +1 rating in 10:17 of average ice time. He’s been exceptional on draws as a stopgap fourth-line piece, winning 65.5% of his faceoffs – including going 25-for-39 in a larger sample this year.
He’s also been nearly an All-Star-level threat in the AHL. Some injuries and his stints on the NHL roster have limited him to 27 appearances this season, but he’s scored nine goals and 19 points with a -1 rating in 27 games when in the lineup. That’s on the heels of a 24-goal, 49-point showing as a rookie in 67 games last year. A pending restricted free agent, he’s been a highly valuable depth piece so far and is almost guaranteed to receive a qualifying offer.
Radek Faksa Likely Out Until Postseason
- Exiting the Olympics, it was believed that the Dallas Stars would have Radek Faksa back relatively soon. Regrettably, that has not been true, and there won’t be any changes in the near future. According to radio analyst Bruce LeVine, Faksa suffered a significant setback during his rehabilitation process, and the Stars aren’t expecting him back until the postseason. He will likely finish the 2025-26 regular season with two goals and 17 points in 56 contests.
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Roope Hintz To Miss Multiple Weeks
Last night, the Stars got a big boost up front when Roope Hintz returned to the lineup from an illness that had kept him out since the end of the Olympic break. Unfortunately for them, that will be his last game for a little while.
Hintz sustained a lower-body injury in the second period of their game against Colorado and ultimately had to be helped off the ice. Speaking with reporters today including D Magazine’s Robert Tiffin (Twitter link), Hintz is set to miss multiple weeks due to the injury. As he needs to be evaluated by another doctor, no firm timeline is available yet but the team is hopeful that Hintz will be able to return by the start of the playoffs next month.
Hintz has been productive as always this season, putting up 15 goals and 29 assists in 53 games while averaging over 17 minutes per night. The 29-year-old has been their number one center throughout the year while seeing time on both special teams units. On top of that, Hintz is their top full-time performer at the faceoff dot, winning over 59% of his draws. Suffice it to say, his loss will be significant, especially with the Stars in a tight battle for second place in the Central Division to try to secure home-ice advantage in the first round.
With 12 other healthy forwards on the roster, the Stars aren’t yet eligible for an emergency recall, one that wouldn’t count against their post-deadline regular recall limit of five. However, given that Hintz is going to be out for a while, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Dallas utilize one of those five recalls from AHL Texas to ensure that they have at least one extra healthy forward available over the coming weeks.
Stars Activate Roope Hintz From Injured Reserve
March 6th: According to a team announcement, the Stars have activated Hintz from injured reserve. He’ll be back in Dallas’ lineup tonight against the Colorado Avalanche.
March 3rd: Earlier today the Dallas Stars shared that Roope Hintz has landed on injured reserve due to illness, retroactive to February 25.
Since returning from the Olympic break where he represented Team Finland and won bronze, Hintz has yet to play, missing Dallas’ last three games. Impressively they’ve won all three by a combined score of 13-4, while tonight’s action in Calgary marks the fourth straight missing their center.
A player ending up on injured reserve from sickness is rare, and while it may cause concern for his health, the timeline is a factor in the decision. With Hintz off the shelf as he heals up, Dallas has an open roster spot to work with leading up to Friday’s trade deadline. The 29-year-old will be eligible to return then, as his Stars will host the Avalanche; the only team above them in the standings. Dallas is usually active at the deadline, and considering that they’re second in the league with a window as open as ever, it figures that they’ll have some reinforcements coming.
Hintz’s fifth place standing in team scoring (44 points in 52 games) is more of an indication of how deep the Stars are up front. The Finn has an elite 59.2% faceoff win rate this year, a career best by a considerable margin, as he continues to rise as a Selke level player. The scoring has tapered off a bit after back-to-back 37 goal campaigns from 2021-23, but it’s hardly an issue considering his impact in other areas, as well as the Stars’ overall firepower.
Winners of nine straight, Dallas will march ahead without Hintz, likely to return sometime around the weekend.
Stars Acquire Michael Bunting
5:05 p.m.: Both teams have announced the trade as reported.
4:23 p.m.: The Dallas Stars are bringing in a formidable middle-six forward for their playoff run. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Stars have acquired Michael Bunting from the Nashville Predators. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reported that the Predators will receive the Seattle Kraken’s 2026 third-round pick from Dallas. Beat writer Robert Tiffin reported that Dallas has reassigned forward Arttu Hyry in a corresponding move.
Moving to Dallas, Bunting will suit up for his fifth team in the last four seasons. Bunting was acquired by the Predators at last year’s deadline (along with a fourth-round pick) from the Pittsburgh Penguins for Thomas Novak and Luke Schenn.
Bunting, 30, was having a strong year in Nashville, headed into his third trip through free agency. Before the trade, Bunting had scored 13 goals and 31 points in 61 games, averaging 14:48 of ice time per game. If that scoring trend continues with the Stars, Bunting will finish a 41-point campaign.
He’s not the most physical winger in the league, but he brings a strong possession game to Dallas for a team that needed reinforcements. Tyler Seguin has already been ruled out for the remainder of the 2025-26 season, including the playoffs, while Roope Hintz and Mikko Rantanen have each been dealing with injuries of late.
Given the injuries to Dallas’ top-six, it’s likely that’s where Bunting will begin his tenure with the Stars. Assuming everyone except for Seguin returns for the playoffs, Bunting can provide additional scoring punch to the team’s third line.
Despite being an expiring asset, a third-round pick as a return must feel underwhelming for the Predators. Only a few days ago, Nashville sent fourth-liner Michael McCarron to the Minnesota Wild for a second-round pick. Yes, McCarron is making $3.6MM less than Bunting, and is a center, but Bunting is outscoring him by more than double.
Regardless, it’s clear that general manager Barry Trotz is intent on accumulating draft capital for the next regime. Assuming the third-round selection is within the next three years, the Predators will have 16 picks in the first three rounds of the next three drafts. This will provide the next GM with significant control over team building.
Image courtesy of Tim Fuller-Imagn Images.