Stars Sign Casey DeSmith
According to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, the Dallas Stars have found their new backup goaltender as the team has signed Casey DeSmith to a three-year, $3MM ($1MM cap hit) contract.
DeSmith served as the Vancouver Canucks’ backup for much of the season, even filling a stretch of starts in the wake of injuries to Thatcher Demko. He posted modest totals in the spot starts, managing 12 wins and a .896 save percentage. It was a down year for DeSmith, after he managed a much sturdier 15 wins and .905 save percentage in 38 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins last year.
It was in Pittsburgh that DeSmith got his start, joining the organization as an AHL signing in the 2015-16 season, one year removed from the end of his collegiate career. But DeSmith was quick to bounce back to form though, recording 39 wins and a .919 save percentage across his first three seasons and 62 games in the AHL. That was enough to earn him an NHL call-up in 2017 – with Pittsburgh awarding DeSmith the first 50 games of his NHL career between 2017 and 2019. He was stellar in the initial test, posting a .917 save percentage and 21 wins.
DeSmith earned the AHL starting role in 2019-20, then the NHL backup role in 2020-21 following Matt Murray‘s move to the Ottawa Senators. DeSmith held strong through his roles with Pittsburgh, emphasized by his stint in Vancouver marking the first time at any level of his pro career that DeSmith has posted a save percentage below .900. Dallas will be betting that he can return to his previously stout role next year, in a backup role that ceded 32 games to Scott Wedgewood last season.
Stars Re-Sign Matt Duchene
3:49 PM: The Stars have announced the signing.
9:28 AM: UFA center Matt Duchene won’t test the market. He’s returning to the Stars on a one-year deal worth roughly $3MM, per Chris Johnston of The Athletic.
It’s a great deal for Dallas, who gets Duchene on a solid discount and reserves cap space for later in the day. Assuming a $3MM cap hit, they still have nearly $15MM in space with nine open roster spots. It isn’t enough to keep deadline pickup Chris Tanev around, though – the veteran blue-liner landed with the Maple Leafs on a six-year deal after they acquired his signing rights via trade during the draft.
The deal could be identical to the one-year, $3MM pact that landed him in Dallas as a free agent last summer. Duchene was a surprise addition to the market after having the final three seasons of his seven-year, $56MM deal with the Predators bought out.
It’s hardly an unexpected outcome. Reporting over the last month indicated strong mutual interest in an extension, and Duchene was public about his willingness to take a discount.
A considerable discount it is for the 33-year-old, who had 25 goals and 65 points in 80 games for Dallas last year. He was the No. 5 free agent on our Top 50 list.
Duchene will be relied upon heavily to help replace the offense lost by Joe Pavelski‘s expected retirement. It’s a solid bet that he’ll keep up his previous level of production – it’s roughly in line with his averages over the past three years.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Stars Re-Sign Sam Steel
July 1, 6:08 a.m.: While the team hasn’t announced it, CapFriendly reflects that Steel’s deal has been signed.
June 30, 10:40 p.m.: Although he wasn’t tendered a qualifying offer earlier today, it looks like Sam Steel will be staying in Dallas. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports (Twitter link) that the center is expected to ink a one-year, $1.2MM contract to remain with the Stars.
The 26-year-old has actually been non-tendered in three straight years to avoid giving him arbitration eligibility which could have pushed the price tag higher than his previous teams wanted to pay. That resulted in Anaheim letting him go in 2022 while Minnesota did the same last summer, paving the way for him to sign a one-year, $850K deal with the Stars on the open day of free agency last summer.
Steel had a quality year with Dallas in their bottom six, recording 24 points in 77 games while averaging a little over 13 minutes per game including nearly two minutes per night shorthanded. He also suited up in all 19 playoff contests, picking up a goal and four helpers.
For his career, Steel has played in 339 NHL games between the Ducks, Wild, and Stars. While he was a high-end scorer in junior, that hasn’t translated to the pros as he has just 43 goals and 74 assists in those appearances; the fact that he has become a capable defensive forward will help extend his career as it makes him a better fit to play in the bottom six.
In the end, Steel will wind up with a $350K raise, a pretty good outcome as it will be the first seven-figure contract of his career. Meanwhile, the Stars were able to avoid the risk of going to arbitration while ensuring they can keep him at a rate they can afford. With at least seven more players needed to fill out their roster, expect Dallas to be busy in the coming days.
Free Agency Notes: Wedgewood, Girgensons, Necas
Dallas Stars goaltender Scott Wedgewood is expected to test free agency on July 1st (as per Sean Shapiro of EP Rinkside). The 31-year-old is coming off a two-year, $2MM that was the first one-way NHL deal of Wedgewood’s career. The Etobicoke, Ontario native has made it clear that he would like a raise on his $1MM and given that he didn’t start making NHL money until he was 29, it makes sense that would attempt to maximize his earning potential while he has a window to do so.
Wedgewood wasn’t great last season, posting a 16-7-5 record with the Stars, a 2.85 goals-against average, and a .899 save percentage. However, the free-agent goalie market is very thin this summer and he should have an opportunity to get a multi-year deal at bigger money than his last contract.
In other free agency notes:
- The Buffalo Sabres are still waiting to hear if forward Zemgus Girgensons plans to test free agency (as per Lance Lysowski). It was reported a month ago that the Sabres wouldn’t re-sign the 30-year-old, but they have reportedly offered him a contract to stay in Buffalo. The Riga, Latvia native has spent his entire 10-year NHL career with the Sabres, dressing in 688 games. Girgensons has only topped 20 points twice in his career and not since the 2014-15 season. He signed a one-year $2.5MM last June to forgo free agency but had the worst offensive season of his career with just eight goals and six assists in 63 games. While he didn’t produce much offense, his possession numbers at even-strength weren’t awful with a CF% of 49.2%.
- Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet writes that the Carolina Hurricanes could change their mind on trading forward Martin Necas. The Hurricanes have been trying to sign pending unrestricted free agent Jake Guentzel and if he leaves Friedman believes the team could keep Necas and go to arbitration or sign a one-year deal. Carolina let the Columbus Blue Jackets negotiate a contract extension with Necas in an attempt to trade for the fourth overall pick, but the two sides weren’t able to reach an agreement.
Dallas Stars Expected To Re-Sign Matt Duchene
Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, forward Matt Duchene is not expected to reach unrestricted free agency on Monday as he and the Dallas Stars are making significant process on a contract extension. The news comes shortly after the Stars organization made a hard pivot away from pending UFA Chris Tanev as they traded his signing rights to the Toronto Maple Leafs earlier this afternoon.
Last offseason, Duchene had the final three years and $24MM of his contract with the Nashville Predators bought out shortly before the start of free agency. The Stars organization quickly pounced as they signed Duchene to a one-year, $3MM contract. As a rare low-risk, high-reward move; Duchene promptly became one of the better value contracts from last summer’s offseason.
One season removed from scoring 22 goals and 56 points for Nashville in 71 games, Duchene got out to a scorching start in the Lone Star State that lasted nearly two-thirds of the season. Through his first 55 games in Dallas, Duchene put up 22 goals and 55 points while averaging less than 17 minutes of ice time per game. Not only was Duchene strong on the puck’s offensive side, but he also put up quality defensive and possession metrics as evidenced by his 92.1% on-ice save percentage in all situations and 54.0% CorsiFor%.
Unfortunately, Duchene could not keep the good times rolling down the stretch as he managed only three goals and 10 points over his last 25 games of the regular season. Despite the slow ending to the season for Duchene personally; Dallas still managed to capture the best record in the Western Conference and guaranteed home ice through the Conference Finals.
Through Round One of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, Duchene was held to two points in total in seven games as the Stars knocked out the defending Stanley Cup Champions Vegas Golden Knights. Duchene appeared to pick up some steam in Round Two as he scored one goal and four points in six games against Dallas’ Central Division rival — the Colorado Avalanche. The fire that Duchene may have caught during Round Two was quickly extinguished in the Western Conference Finals against the Edmonton Oilers as Duchene failed to put up any points and was limited to only nine shots in six games.
Regardless of some slight inconsistency towards the end of the season and the Stanley Cup playoffs, it was clear that Duchene blended well on and off the ice with the Stars organization. With the team expected to lose out on veteran Joe Pavelski to retirement at some point this offseason, Duchene might have access to a larger opportunity in Dallas for the next several years.
Stars Will Hire Joe Pavelski In Front Office If He Retires
- If everything is to go as expected, Joe Pavelski of the Dallas Stars has already played his last game in the National Hockey League. He will not have to wait long for a job offer though as Sean Shapiro of EP Rinkside reports the Stars organization is more than willing to give Pavelski an opportunity in the front office if he officially decides to retire. It would not be surprising to see Pavelski land a front-office job after his playing career officially concludes, as the veteran star has largely operated in a leadership role throughout his professional career as a player.
[SOURCE LINK]
Maple Leafs Acquire Rights To Chris Tanev
The Toronto Maple Leafs have acquired the rights to pending unrestricted free agent Chris Tanev from the Dallas Stars (Twitter link). The return is depth forward Max Ellis and a 2026 seventh-round pick, shares Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff (Twitter link). Toronto will have two days to negotiate with the prolific defensive-defenseman before he enters free agency on July 1st.
This trade reunites Tanev with his hometown of Toronto late into his career. Now 34, Tanev has pulled together a career to be proud of, totaling 190 points in 792 games, spending 10 years with the Vancouver Canucks, four years with the Calgary Flames, and then one brief playoff run with the Dallas Stars. His role has held steadfast through the changes of scenery – with Tanev among the most popular top-pair shutdown defenders in the league. He’s vindicated that reputation over the last five seasons, with plenty of teams reportedly in the market when Vancouver and Calgary traded him away.
It’s Toronto who will win the Tanev sweepstakes this time around, though they show up to the race a bit late in Tanev’s career. That might not stop them from giving him healthy term, though, with TSN’s Darren Dreger reporting that Tanev’s next deal could run for as long as five-to-eight years (Twitter link). That term would carry Tanev to, or beyond, 40 – though it could also help keep the deal’s cap hit down. The Leafs could use every dollar they can save, with $18.83MM in cap spcae to re-sign a daunting 15 pending free agents. That list includes players like Max Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi, as well as the rotation of backup goaltenders in Ilya Samsonov, Martin Jones, and Matt Murray.
While Toronto has the luxury of not needing to re-sign every player, they’re bound to commit more money than they’d like to the few they do bring back. It’s hard to think Tanev is in line for a team-friendly deal, even if he were to land substantial term with his hometown club. But with a deadline right around the corner, fans may not have to wait long for the mysteries of his deal to be revealed. When they are, Toronto will be locking up a stout, reliable defensive-defenseman who should compliment Morgan Rielly‘s offensive style much better than his previous linemates.
Tanev’s representation did not speak with Toronto before the trade, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Stars Buy Out Ryan Suter
June 28, 12:33 p.m.: The Stars made Suter’s buyout official on Friday. Since his contract carried a no-move clause, he doesn’t need to pass through unconditional waivers before being bought out. He will be eligible to sign anywhere as a UFA starting Monday.
June 27, 2:23 p.m.: Suter’s camp was informed of the buyout by the Stars last night, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports. There are already multiple teams interested in signing him when he becomes a free agent in the coming days, per LeBrun.
June 27, 9:07 a.m.: Jeff Marek of Sportsnet is reporting that the Dallas Stars are buying out the final year of defenseman Ryan Suter’s contract. Suter was owed $4.3MM in actual salary and was set to carry a cap hit of $3.65MM as part of the four-year $14.6MM contract he inked in July 2021. The buyout marks the second time in Suter’s career that his contract has been cut short, as the Minnesota Wild bought out the final four years of his 13-year, $98MM contract back in July 2021.
With the move, Dallas will add a $1.4MM charge to their cap for the 2025-26 season, but they will save $2.866MM this season (as per CapFriendly). Typically, a 35+ contract buyout wouldn’t lead to any savings, however, Suter’s contract was not frontloaded and had no signing bonuses after the first year, meaning the Stars will see some savings.
Suter played in all 82 games last season for Dallas but saw his offensive production drop for a second consecutive season as he tallied just two goals and 15 assists. His average ice time dropped to the lowest it has been since his rookie season with Nashville back in 2005-06.
While Suter isn’t the elite rearguard he once was, he remained an effective player for the Stars as he never missed a game in his three years with the team and was still a decent possession player, posting a CF% of 51% at even-strength. Suter can still skate and block shots and is responsible in his end, he is still an NHL defenseman despite being 39 years old. Suter will likely have interest from other teams in free agency if he elects to continue his career.
For the Stars, the move is surprising, but it makes sense given that they are hoping to retain pending unrestricted free agents Chris Tanev and Matt Duchene. Dallas had just over $16MM in available cap space coming into today and also has to try and re-sign restricted free agent defenseman Thomas Harley. If they do sign those three players, it will eat into most of their remaining cap space and would have left little room to fill out the remainder of their roster.
Stars Sign Alexander Petrovic To Two-Year, Two-Way Extension
The Dallas Stars have signed depth defenseman Alexander Petrovic to a two-year, two-way contract extension. The details of the contract haven’t been released, though Petrovic’s last four contracts have come at a league-minimum price tag.
Petrovic played in his first NHL games since 2019 when he stepped in for one regular season game and seven postseason games this season. He wasn’t able to change his stat line much, recording no scoring, one penalty, and a -1. He’s otherwise spent the rest of his time over the last five seasons in a stout minor league role, capable of playing most of the games in a season and posting modest scoring totals. He lived by that calling card this year, recording 22 points, 40 penalty minutes, and a -6 in 70 games with the AHL’s Texas Stars.
But Petrovic wasn’t always a lock for the minor leagues. He once held a consistent role on the Florida Panthers defense, after being drafted with the team’s fourth selection in the 2010 NHL Draft. Petrovic joined a draft class of Erik Gudbranson, Nick Bjugstad, and Zach Hyman – though none of the quartet ever carved out much of a role with the Panthers. For Petrovic, he muddled around Florida’s bottom pairing, before a 2018 trade to the Edmonton Oilers kicked off his run in the minor leagues. He’s since totaled 283 AHL games in the years since, boasting 101 points and 213 penalty minutes. Petrovic will be set to return to that minor-league role on his new contract, though he could be a popular option for Dallas’ role of seventh-defender, after the team bought out veteran Ryan Suter.
Chris Tanev Seeking Four-Year Deal
- Chris Tanev is looking to cash in on a solid 2023-24 NHL season as Jonas Siegel and James Mirtle of The Athletic (Subscription Required) report the veteran defenseman is looking for a four-year contract this offseason. The veteran defenseman is already engaged in contract discussions with the Dallas Stars on a new deal, but it is unknown how long the organization is willing to go on his next contract. If Tanev makes it to the open market, plenty of defensive-needy teams will be interested in his services, but the pack may thin out if teams are unwilling to make that long of an arrangement.
[SOURCE LINK]