Stars Sign Oskar Back To Two-Year Extension
The Stars have signed center Oskar Back to a two-year, $1.65MM extension, the club announced Thursday. The 24-year-old was slated to become a Group VI unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and, after signing a one-year deal to remain in the Stars system last summer, became eligible to sign an extension just yesterday.
It’s been a lengthy road to relevancy for Back, who Dallas picked up in the third round of the 2018 draft. After he spent his first three post-draft seasons suiting up in his native Sweden, he signed his entry-level deal with the Stars in April 2021, one year before his exclusive signing rights were set to expire.
Back spent the entirety of his entry-level deal in the AHL, where he slowly upped his offensive production en route to becoming one of the Baby Stars’ best two-way forwards. He posted 19 goals, 69 assists and 88 points in 196 games with a +29 rating over his three years on the farm, including a career-high 36 points in 59 games during the 2023-24 campaign.
With Dallas looking internally to find some cost-effective options for their bottom-six forward group, they re-upped Back on a two-way deal in June to keep him off the restricted free agent market. A strong training camp meant he avoided waivers and made the Stars’ opening night roster. He’s played in 31 of Dallas’ 36 games and hasn’t served as a healthy scratch since early November.
In his first NHL look, Back has been a fine fourth-line piece. He has a goal plus eight assists for nine points with a +4 rating, all the while averaging 11:17 per game and winning 55.6% of his draws. He hasn’t been particularly physical despite carrying a 6’4″, 203-lb frame, only recording 13 hits.
That lack of physicality hasn’t kept Back from recording strong possession impacts, though. His usage has trended defensive at 5-on-5, but the Stars have still managed to control 54.9% of shot attempts with him on the ice compared to 52.1% without him. He’s also received some fringe penalty-kill usage, averaging a tad over a minute per game shorthanded.
Back will now remain in Dallas through the 2026-27 campaign on an affordable $825K cap hit. It’s indeed a one-way deal, Sam Nestler of DLLS Sports confirms. Among players on the Stars’ active roster, 13 are now under contract for next season.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Stars Recall Arttu Hyry For NHL Debut
The Stars have recalled rookie forward Arttu Hyry from AHL Texas, the club announced Thursday morning. He is expected to make his NHL debut tonight against the Senators as left-winger Mason Marchment remains week-to-week with his facial injury.
Hyry, 23, is in his first season in North America. Dallas signed the undrafted Finn to a two-year, $1.74MM entry-level contract in April after he recorded a career-high 14 goals, 17 assists and 31 points in 55 games for Liiga’s Kärpät in 2023-24.
After signing his rookie deal with the Stars, Finland named Hyry to their roster for the 2024 World Championship. He scored twice and added an assist in eight games, posting a +1 rating, as Finland advanced to the quarterfinals but lost to Sweden in overtime.
The Stars made Hyry a late cut from their training camp roster, waiting until Oct. 5 to assign the waiver-exempt right-winger/center to the AHL. He’s since fit like a glove on one of the AHL’s highest-scoring teams, posting 14 goals and 12 assists for 26 points in his first 29 appearances for the Baby Stars. He’s also amid a 10-game point streak, during which time he’s posted eight goals and five assists.
Hyry’s offensive production ranks third on the team, and his +10 rating is second on the club behind recent call-up Justin Hryckowian. The latter is back in the minors for the time being after averaging 6:40 of time on ice through his first two career NHL games, meaning Hyry gets a chance to skate in a fourth-line role for the big club.
The Stars are down to one open spot on their active roster after recalling Hyry. He will be a restricted free agent with arbitration eligibility in the summer of 2026, at which point he’ll be due an $813,750 qualifying offer, per PuckPedia.
Metro Notes: Jones, Fehervary, Ersson, Puljujarvi
New York Rangers defenseman Zac Jones voiced his frustration when discussing his recent stretch of healthy scratches amid the Rangers losing skid (as per Sean O’Leary of The Score). Jones, who will sit for the fifth time in six games tomorrow, said that he feels as though he is rotting away. The 24-year-old was a regular for the Rangers prior to the team bringing in Will Borgen and Urho Vaakanainen.
Jones added that it is tough for him to improve when he isn’t playing, and he feels as though he has done some good things, but his playing time isn’t reflecting that. In 26 games this season, Jones has posted a goal and seven assists while averaging 16:42 of ice time per game. Jones has been with New York since the team took him in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. He has played in 95 games over the past five seasons, posting four goals and 21 assists.
In other Metropolitan Division notes:
- Washington Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary did not skate today during the team’s optional skate and is officially listed as day-to-day after taking a stick to the face from teammate Tom Wilson in yesterday’s win over Boston (as per Tarik El-Bashir of the Monumental Sports Network). He will be reevaluated tomorrow morning before the team takes on the Minnesota Wild in the evening. Fehervary has played every game this season after having injuries limit him to just 66 games last year. The 25-year-old is averaging the third most minutes of any Capitals skaters and has become a big piece of their defense core.
- The Philadelphia Flyers have announced that goaltender Samuel Ersson is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. The netminder left last night’s game after two periods with an undisclosed injury and did not return. The Flyers have said it is likely a short-term injury and he will be evaluated daily. The 25-year-old missed time earlier this season with a groin issue, meaning that he could have reaggravated that injury yesterday. Ersson is 9-6-2 on the season with an .884 save percentage and a 3.02 goals-against average.
- Matt Vensel of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes that Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jesse Puljujarvi hinted that he may have asked the Penguins for a trade prior to him being put on waivers earlier in the week. The former fourth-overall pick cleared waivers and remains with the Penguins, but he has been a healthy scratch in ten straight games. Puljujarvi had a long road back to good health, and it’s hard to fault him for wanting to play. He was at Penguins practice again today, and once again he was the odd man out during their line rushes. The 26-year-old has three goals and five assists in 21 games this season but hasn’t been able to get into the lineup after Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said that he needed to play better defense and have more attention to detail.
Avalanche Place Oliver Kylington On IR, Recall Oskar Olausson
The Colorado Avalanche have placed defenseman Oliver Kylington on the injured reserve and recalled forward Oskar Olausson from the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League. Kylington was placed on the IR retroactive to November 27th as he deals with an upper-body injury. The 27-year-old was originally considered week-to-week but was downgraded to month-to-month this past Saturday, meaning that his return is certainly not imminent.
Kylington was likely happy to put 2024 in his rear-view mirror as it was a tumultuous year for the former second-round pick. Kylington had to settle for a one-year deal in free agency last summer and has been used sparingly in Colorado this season, dressing in just eight games and posting just two points. At one point this year, the Avalanche tried Kylington at forward, but it was without much success.
Olausson is a former first-round pick (28th overall in 2021) and is in his third professional season. He has seen limited NHL appearances, dressing just twice and failing to register a point. He hasn’t found much offensive success in the AHL, posting 27 goals and 23 assists and a -19 plus/minus in 129 AHL games.
The 22-year-old last saw NHL action in December of 2023, playing just a single game. He will be hoping for a longer stay this time around and could get it the way injuries have stacked up for the Avalanche this season.
Maple Leafs Notes: Matthews, Ekman-Larsson, Hakanpaa
Toronto Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews has not been ruled out of a return to the lineup this weekend (as per Dave McCarthy of NHL.com). Matthews practiced again today, the second time he has done so since he reaggravated an upper-body injury that kept him out of the lineup for nine games in November.
The 27-year-old has been dealing with the injury since training camp that flared up again in a game against Buffalo on December 20th and will miss a sixth straight game tomorrow night. The Maple Leafs would like Matthews to get one more practice in before he plays again, but Toronto will not practice on Friday. The Maple Leafs play this weekend against Boston on Saturday and Philadelphia on Sunday, so it does remain an outside possibility that Matthew rejoins the team for one of those games.
In other Toronto Maple Leafs notes:
- Maple Leafs defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson is expected to return to Toronto’s lineup tomorrow night (as per Joshua Kloke of The Athletic). Ekman-Larsson has been dealing with an illness but practiced today with the team, skating on the third pairing alongside Simon Benoit. He missed last night’s game against the Islanders but has dressed in 37 games this season, posting a goal and 12 assists. If the 33-year-old is good to go for tomorrow, it seems likely that Conor Timmins will come out of the lineup.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs have moved defenseman Jani Hakanpaa to the LTIR which means the team will gain $1.47MM in cap space (as per PuckPedia). The 32-year-old has dressed in just two NHL games this season, registering a single hit along with four blocked shots. Hakanpaa has been skating, but last night’s game was the 19th game in a row that he missed. The move could be short-lived given that he did skate before practice today, however, the Maple Leafs are likely to be cautious before any potential return.
Minor Transactions: 1/1/25
The calendar has flipped to a new year but don’t expect the day-to-day roster shuffling to change anytime soon. Here’s a rundown of today’s minor and paper moves.
- The Stars announced (Twitter link) that they’ve reassigned winger Justin Hryckowian to AHL Texas. The 23-year-old was shuffled back and forth several times last month in an effort to maximize how much cap space they’re banking. Hryckowian played in Dallas’ last two games, picking up three hits in 13:20 of total playing time. He has been quite productive with Texas in his first full professional season, however, collecting 12 goals and 14 assists in 27 games so far.
- The Penguins announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Nathan Clurman has been sent back to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He has been sent back and forth a few times lately but if Owen Pickering or Kris Letang are ready to return on Friday against Florida, then this assignment might be a longer-term one. Clurman has played once for Pittsburgh this season but has spent most of the year in the minors, tallying a goal and four assists in 18 appearances.
- The Hurricanes continue their frequent roster movement. With no game today, they’ve assigned goaltender Dustin Tokarski, defenseman Ty Smith, and winger Jackson Blake to AHL Chicago, per the AHL’s transactions log. As is always the case with these moves, the paper assignments merely free up several thousand dollars in cap space. Carolina is back in action on Thursday and all three are likely to be recalled at that time.
- With Yaroslav Askarov up with the Sharks for the foreseeable future, their farm team has found a temporary replacement for him. Per a team release, the AHL’s Barracuda has signed goaltender Samuel St-Hilaire to an ATO agreement. The 20-year-old had a 2.56 GAA and a .904 SV% over parts of three seasons with QMJHL Rimouski and was on Canada’s entry for the World Juniors last year.
Wild Recall Carson Lambos And Brendan Gaunce
5:31 PM: The Wild officially announced both recalls.
4:56 PM: With veteran defenseman Jared Spurgeon expected to miss some time, the Wild are expected to bring up a blueliner from the minors. However, it appears it won’t be David Jiricek as expected. Instead, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that Carson Lambos, one of their top prospects, will get the nod and be brought up from AHL Iowa.
The 21-year-old was a first-round pick of Minnesota back in 2021, going 26th overall. Lambos was a productive defender at the junior level, putting up 95 points in 112 games with WHL Winnipeg after being drafted. However, that production hasn’t carried over to the pros. After putting up 14 points in 69 games last season, Lambos is on a similar pace this year with five points in his first 27 appearances.
Nonetheless, this should be a good chance for the Wild to evaluate Lambos and assess his NHL readiness. With the trade deadline coming up in a couple of months and Minnesota among the stronger teams in the league, they’ll likely be wanting to shore up their back end at some point. Having a better understanding on what Lambos can do at the top level will only help determine what they might want to do.
Meanwhile, Russo adds (Twitter link) that veteran forward Brendan Gaunce is also set to be recalled from Iowa, taking the place of Kirill Kaprizov who landed on IR today. The 30-year-old has played in four games with Minnesota this season, logging just under ten minutes a night but has been held without a point. Gaunce has been productive in the minors, however, tallying 11 goals and six assists in 22 games; three of those goals came just last night.
Hurricanes Recall Juha Jaaska
The Hurricanes appear set to give a new forward his first taste of NHL action. The team announced that they’ve recalled Juha Jaaska from AHL Chicago. The move was made after 4 PM CT and thus will not officially hit Carolina’s books from a salary cap perspective until Thursday.
The 26-year-old is in his first season in North America after signing a one-year, entry-level deal with the Hurricanes back in April. The contract carries an AAV of $850K. Jaaska put up two straight seasons of at least 30 points with HIFK in Finland’s Liiga which helped earn him this contract while he also suited up for his country at the 2024 Worlds, albeit in a limited role.
So far, Jaaska has played exclusively with the Wolves, tallying seven goals and nine assists in 25 games, producing at a similar point-per-game level as he was back home. His 16 points are good for a tie for third in team scoring.
Even though he’s on his entry-level deal, Jaaska will be eligible to test the open market again this summer as an unrestricted free agent so he’ll be looking to make a good impression in his first taste of action at the top level.
Submit Your Questions For The Next #PHRMailbag
With the holiday break in the rearview mirror, it’s time for the next edition of Brian La Rose’s PHR Mailbag.
Last month’s edition ran in two parts. The first dealt with some potential cap dumps, some Central Division teams’ interest in defensemen on the trade market, and the playing future of Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog. The second covered the state of the Flyers’ rebuild, potential buy-low trade candidates for the Canadiens, and some of the best off-season pickups.
You can submit your questions in the comment section below or by using #PHRMailbag on X/Twitter.
Pacific Notes: Emberson, Vlasic, Jugnauth
With many players now extension-eligible as of today, it will be interesting to see if any come to terms on a new deal in the coming days. In the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link), Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman speculates that the Oilers might want to take a run at starting talks with defenseman Ty Emberson in the near future. Acquired in the Cody Ceci trade over the summer, the 24-year-old has settled into a steady third-pairing role, logging just under 15 minutes a night while recording 48 blocks, 53 hits, and five assists in 35 appearances so far.
Making $950K this season, Emberson’s qualifying offer would be just under $1MM if he qualifies for RFA status but he needs to play in 15 more games for that to happen. Otherwise, he’d be a Group Six unrestricted free agent. With the role he has, he should be able to add a bit to that qualifier but it shouldn’t be an exorbitant cost for the Oilers to absorb if they can get something done.
Elsewhere in the Pacific Division:
- Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic took to the ice today as he continues to try to work his way back from a back injury, relays Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News (Twitter link). The 37-year-old has yet to play this season because of the injury, one that he was hoping he’d only miss a few weeks with originally. Vlasic’s playing time has dropped to that of a third-pairing player in recent years after being an anchor of their defense corps for more than a decade. He still has one year left on his contract after this one at a $7MM AAV.
- Kraken prospect Tyson Jugnauth will soon get a second stint in the NCAA. The defenseman revealed on his Instagram page that he has committed to Michigan State University for next season. Jugnauth, a fourth-round pick in 2022, spent a year and a half at the University of Wisconsin before moving to WHL Portland in December 2023. The 20-year-old has been quite productive this season, tallying six goals and 40 assists in just 33 games for the Winterhawks but he has decided that it’s not time to turn pro just yet. Seattle has until August 15, 2026 to sign Jugnauth as his transfer to the WHL didn’t change his original signing timeline.