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Dallas Stars Sign Ben Gleason

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The Dallas Stars have signed Ben Gleason to a one-year, two-way contract for the 2022-23 season. The young defenseman was a restricted free agent after his previous one-year deal had expired this summer.

Gleason, 24, experienced an outstanding season this year with the Texas Stars, racking up 44 points in 70 games to finish fifth among all AHL defensemen in scoring. Undrafted, he was signed out of the OHL in 2018 and has been an excellent performer for Texas ever since, even getting into four games with Dallas during his first professional season.

While he won’t likely play a big role at the NHL level this year, he certainly warranted bringing back on a two-way contract as he’s an integral part of the minor league depth chart. Perhaps he’ll receive a chance to play a few games but mostly, Texas fans should be ready to watch Gleason rack up points once again in 2022-23.

Yauheni Aksiantsiuk Clears Unconditional Waivers

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July 27: After clearing and seeing his contract terminated, Aksiantsiuk has signed with Amur Khabarovsk of the KHL.

July 23: It will be one-and-done for Yauheni Aksiantsiuk’s time with the Stars as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that the Stars have placed the winger on unconditional waivers for the purposes of terminating the remainder of his contract.

The diminutive 21-year-old was a sixth-round pick by Dallas back in 2020 after an impressive season with OHL Flint that saw him put up 33 goals and 45 assists in 58 games.  He spent the 2020-21 campaign playing back home in Belarus where he struggled and then decided to return to North America, signing a three-year, entry-level deal back in June of 2021.

Aksiantsiuk spent most of last season with ECHL Idaho, notching 19 goals and 15 assists in 40 games with the Steelheads while adding two goals and two assists in eight AHL contests.  Overall, those numbers aren’t terrible but when coupled with his tough showing back home the year before, there were certainly questions about whether or not he’d have much of an NHL future.  Aksiantsiuk seems to have the same question as this termination – which can be completed on Sunday once he passes through waivers – will likely be followed up by a contract somewhere overseas.

Dallas won’t have any lingering cap charge from Aksiantsiuk’s termination while they will free up a contract slot, bringing them down to 41 out of the maximum of 50.  That number will go up at some point this summer with the Stars having a trio of restricted free agents still to sign, winger Jason Robertson, defenseman Ben Gleason, and goaltender Jake Oettinger.

Dallas Stars Sign Will Butcher

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As John Klingberg continues his extended stay on the free agent market, his former team has continued to make moves to bolster their blueline. Today the Dallas Stars announced they signed former Hobey Baker Award winner Will Butcher on a one-year, two-way contract. Per CapFriendly, the deal carries a $750K cap hit and a $300K minors salary.

Butcher, 27, once looked like a budding star in the NHL after his first season with the New Jersey Devils. As a rookie, Butcher notched 44 points in 81 games and looked like the kind of player who could quarterback the Devils’ power play for years to come. Since that point, though, Butcher’s game has regressed, and due to a mix of injuries, inconsistency, and a lack of development in the defensive side of the game, Butcher has found himself on the type of one-year, two-way contract signed by players who need to re-establish themselves as quality NHLers.

With Klingberg’s exit now certain, the Stars will need a new face to fill Klingberg’s vacated role, that of an offense-first defenseman who can push the pace of play and help on the power play. Just a few years ago, that was what was driving Butcher’s NHL value and what made him such a coveted college free agent. In Dallas, Butcher will have a chance to play on a quality team and have the opportunity to remind people of his skills as an offensive defenseman.

Stars Ownership: Jim Nill "Will Be Extended"

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  • In a lengthy interview with The Athletic’s Saad Yousuf (subscription required), Dallas Stars owner Tom Gaglardi touched on a number of topics concerning the state of the franchise, including what he expects from the team going forward and why new head coach Pete DeBoer was the right fit for the club. Another name that came up was that of longtime Stars GM Jim Nill, who has been in his position for over nine years now. Nill’s contract is set to expire after this season, leading to some apparent uncertainty about what is to come. Gaglardi was sure to quash that uncertainty, telling Yousuf that Nill was going to be extended. The Stars owner cautioned that what the extension looks like depends on several factors which he couldn’t discuss just yet, but was clear about what he intended for his GM. Of note, Yousuf writes that DeBoer did ask Gaglardi in his interview this summer about Nill’s future with the organization, Gaglardi providing DeBoer with the same assurances on Nill’s future. Still, an extension is a two-way street, and Nill, 64, recently mentioned that he’s “not going to do this forever.”

Andrej Sekera Retires From NHL

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After 16 seasons, one of the best Slovak defensemen to ever lace them up is calling it a career. Andrej Sekera told a Slovak-language newspaper today that he’s stepping back from the NHL.

A 2004 third-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres, Sekera carved out a quite long, underrated NHL career with the Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers, and Dallas Stars, where he spent the last three years and 135 games of his career.

His peak season, interestingly enough, came during his only full season with Carolina, notching 11 goals and 44 points in 74 games while averaging a career-high 23:41 per game.

Sekera was one of the more overlooked pieces that helped the Edmonton Oilers return to relevancy with Connor McDavid at the helm. He was the team’s most important defensive player in the 2016-17 season that saw them make the playoffs for the first time in 11 years, but a torn ACL during the second round in 2017 really hurt his career. He never played more than 57 games in a season after that and never averaged higher than 18 minutes per game after consistently averaging 20 or more for a number of seasons prior.

Sekera retired third all-time in games played amongst Slovak defensemen, trailing the obvious (Zdeno Chara) and Lubomir Visnovsky.

Stars Don't Feel They Need To Clear Space To Re-Sign Robertson And Oettinger

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While Dallas has roughly $11MM in cap space per CapFriendly and still has to re-sign RFA winger Jason Robertson and RFA goaltender Jake Oettinger, assistant GM Scott White told Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News that the Stars don’t believe they’re in a position where they have to shed money to keep those two around.  They have enough cap space left to sign one of the two to a long-term contract while the other would need to be on a short-term bridge deal but doing that would allow them to keep Radek Faksa and Denis Gurianov in the fold.  To get both RFAs signed to long-term contracts, one of those two forwards and likely goalie Anton Khudobin would need to be moved out to open up extra cap flexibility.  As a result, their summer shopping is likely done until Robertson and Oettinger put pen to paper on their new contracts.

Dallas Stars Sign Riley Barber

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The Dallas Stars have added some more minor league depth, signing Riley Barber to a one-year, two-way contract.

Barber, 28, has been one of the most consistent offensive players in the AHL for years now, including this season when he had 28 goals and 53 points in 49 games for the Grand Rapids Griffins. While that has only resulted in 16 appearances in the NHL (and zero points), he’ll be a huge help to the Texas Stars, where he can continue his outstanding minor league play.

There may be a handful of opportunities with Dallas but given how many other young players are in the pipeline, Barber’s addition is mostly about AHL success. Every team in the league now is committed to building a winning program in the minor leagues, seeing the impact it can have on the development of their young players. A veteran like Barber will help the program, even if he doesn’t move the needle very much for Dallas.

Dallas Stars Sign Colin Miller

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The Dallas Stars are bolstering their defensive depth, signing Colin Miller to a two-year deal at $1.85MM per season. General manager Jim Nill released a short statement on the deal:

Colin is a puck-moving defenseman that will add experience and a right shot to our defensive core. We are excited to have him under contract with our organization for the next two years.

Though he has done something of a disappearing act over the last few seasons with the Buffalo Sabres, there was a time when Miller was an extremely effective player for the Vegas Golden Knights. In 2017-18 he racked up ten goals and 41 points, while dishing out 165 hits and logging more than 19 minutes a night. The right-shot defenseman has a cannon from the point and enough skating ability to keep up with the play.

Over the last few years though, the story has been injury and inconsistency, as his profile dropped in Buffalo. In 2021-22 he played just 38 games, registering 14 points.

Unfortunately, he’s stepping into pretty big shoes in Dallas, where the Stars are potentially losing John Klingberg (though that hasn’t actually been decided yet, with the free agent defenseman still unsigned) and missing out on acquiring Brent Burns. Miller shouldn’t be seen as a replacement for either of those offensive puck-movers, though he can still offer something that the likes of Jani Hakanpaa can’t on the right side.

No matter what, the Dallas defense is going to be anchored by 22-year-old stud Miro Heiskanen but Miller should offer some nice depth at the position while the Stars continue to try and compete in the Central Division.

Dallas Stars Sign Mason Marchment

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1:07 pm: The Dallas Stars have swooped in under the wire, inking Marchment to a four-year contract worth roughly $4.5MM per season, per a team announcement. Marchment is fresh off of a breakout season for the Florida Panthers, where he scored 47 points in 54 games on the Panthers’ high-powered attack.

Marchment, 27, is a risky investment for the Stars but one with significant upside potential. Marchment was brilliant in 2021-22, scoring at nearly a point-per-game rate and making his impact felt on both ends of the ice. Marchment got his 47 points with very little power play time, making his offensive numbers even more impressive. The biggest risk with Marchment is simply the fact that before this season, it was unthinkable that Marchment could make $4.5MM on a multi-year deal. The production is the production, and the Stars are absolutely not simply basing this deal off of Marchment’s numbers alone, but one has to wonder if he’ll be able to replicate the performance away from the Panthers’ offensive machine.

If he can, this deal will age very, very well. If he can’t, well, it won’t. There is obviously a middle ground here where Marchment settles into a middle-six role, and that is definitely a realistic possibility. But it’s also a possibility that Marchment can’t replicate the success he found in Florida. For a team that wants to continue competing in a difficult Central Division, it’s not a bad risk to take.

12:17 pm: The Carolina Hurricanes have lost a handful of forwards to free agency and trade but they are working to add someone new. The team is closing in on a four-year deal with Mason Marchment according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was first on the news.

Dallas Stars Make Hockey Analytics Department Hires

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  • The Dallas Stars also announced two front office hires to the organization’s Hockey Analytics Department. Matt Rodell has been hired as the team’s Director of Hockey Analytics and Brad Behan has been hired as Coordinator of Hockey Analytics. Rodell has spent the previous five seasons in the Stars organizations in various capacities while Behan spent the 2021-22 season as an intern for the department.

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