Examining Dallas Stars Cap Crunch
The NHL’s announcement of a record $104MM salary cap for 2026‑27 was expected to create meaningful flexibility across the league. For the Dallas Stars, though, the numbers remain tight. Per PuckPedia, Dallas is projected to enter the offseason with roughly $11.1MM in functional cap space and 19 players already under contract for their active roster. That level of roster certainty is usually an advantage, but in this case, it leaves GM Jim Nill with very little room to maneuver as he approaches the most consequential negotiation of his tenure.
With nearly $93MM already committed, the remaining cap space averages out to about $2.7MM per open roster spot. A workable number for depth pieces. However, the equation changes entirely once Jason Robertson enters the picture.
Robertson is coming off a 45‑goal, 96‑point season, and his next contract will almost certainly land among the league’s top winger comparables. His camp is believed to be targeting the Mikko Rantanen range ($12MM AAV). A deal at that level would push Dallas over the cap with only 20 players signed, forcing immediate subtractions.
Even a contract closer to the internal ceiling set by Thomas Harley’s $10.587MM AAV would leave Dallas with a less-than-viable number, roughly around $513K to fill three roster spots.
Robertson’s extension isn’t the only item complicating the Stars’ cap picture. Dallas still has several key vacancies to address starting with their team captain and unrestricted free agent, Jamie Benn. The 36-year-old’s future remains unresolved and a new contract, even at a steep discount, would cut further into the limited space available after a Robertson deal. Restricted Free Agent Mavrik Bourque (24) finished seventh on the team in points (20-21–41) in 82 games. A bridge deal could be beneficial for both parties, but even a modest number adds to the squeeze. Bourque finished the season with nine goals and 19 points in 25 games while averaging 19 minutes of ice time after the Olympic break.
The Stars could see key departures in their depth, including forward Michael Bunting (30), which leaves holes that typically require $1.5–$2MM signings. That tier of spending becomes difficult once Robertson’s contract is accounted for.
To reconcile Robertson’s expected AAV with the Stars’ current structure, Nill may need to shift from cap management to cap triage. The most straightforward path to creating space would involve moving a veteran contract. Defenseman Esa Lindell ($5.8MM) stands out as one of the more viable trade candidates, while Ilya Lyubushkin could also be a trade target as well. Moving one of those deals would push Dallas’ available space into the $15–17MM range, giving enough to sign Robertson and complete the roster without resorting to minimum‑salary patchwork.
Dallas has already secured the core of its roster, including long‑term commitments to defenseman Miro Heiskanen and forward Roope Hintz. But that stability has created what amounts to a 19‑man cap trap. The Stars can keep their group intact, but only if they clear meaningful money before finalizing Robertson’s extension.
Without the necessary moves and shedding of salary, the idea and ability to retain their most productive forward becomes mathematically impossible under the current structure.
Dallas Stars Issue Several Injury Updates
There’s no question that the Dallas Stars were severely impacted by injuries throughout the 2025-26 season. The Stars had the fourth-most injuries of any team this season, behind the Florida Panthers, Vegas Golden Knights, and New York Islanders. In today’s end-of-season media availability, the General Manager Jim Nill revealed a laundry list (via Lia Assimakopoulos of The Dallas Morning News) of specific injury information the Stars dealt with throughout the regular season and postseason.
Nill disclosed new injuries or details regarding 18 players on the roster, from the preseason to the present. Some injuries were already known, such as Tyler Seguin‘s ACL tear, Jamie Benn‘s collapsed lung, and Miro Heiskanen‘s torn oblique, but several others were also mentioned.
The biggest news is that star forward Mikko Rantanen suffered a torn MCL in the Olympics. Missing more than a month of action, Rantanen dropped from a 1.27 P/G average before the international tournament to a 0.80 upon his return. His point production went up mildly during the playoffs, but it was clear that Rantanen wasn’t his usual self.
Nill admitted that Rantanen came back as quickly as he could, which likely hurt his recovery process. Fortunately, the Stars aren’t expecting that he’ll need surgery this summer.
Both players that Dallas acquired at the trade deadline were also dealing with injuries. Nill alerted that both Michael Bunting and Tyler Myers were dealing with groin injuries in the regular season. That could be a key reason as to why neither player transitioned well to the team after being acquired by the Stars.
He also offered injury updates on those on the team who suffered longer-term injuries throughout the 2025-26 campaign. Matt Duchene was dealing with a concussion earlier in the season that cost him most of October and all of November.
Roope Hintz, who became ill at the Olympics, suffered a double hamstring tear in his first game back on March 6th. Unfortunately, as he was attempting to make another comeback, Hintz reaggravated the same injury. In a similar vein, Radek Faksa, who was also injured in the Olympics, apparently suffered a concussion. Additionally, while he was recovering from concussion symptoms, Faksa was stepped on by a skate and had a serious laceration in his foot that cut some ligaments. There’s a chance he’ll need surgery again this offseason.
Further down the forward corps, Nill shared that Oskar Back lost 10 games in October due to a wrist injury, Nathan Bastian broke his finger toward the end of the regular season, Adam Erne sprained his MCL in December, Arttu Hyry suffered a high ankle sprain in the playoffs, and Sam Steel endured a groin injury during the regular season.
On defense, the most notable news was the injury specifics to Thomas Harley and Lian Bichsel earlier in the season. According to Nill, Bichsel fractured his leg and ankle in late November, costing him nearly a third of the regular season. Nill added that Bichsel suffered a shoulder sprain in the playoffs, but that isn’t expected to have any long-term consequences.
Meanwhile, Harley, who lost 12 games of the regular season, suffered a broken foot in November. Nils Lundkvist, who hasn’t played since getting a facial laceration against the Minnesota Wild, was also suffering from concussion symptoms from the same play. Additionally, Nill shared that Lundkvist fractured his leg and ankle earlier in the year, costing him 30 games. Lastly, Nill told the media that depth defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin had a shoulder injury throughout the regular season.
Dallas has reached a point where losing Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in overtime is considered a disappointing year. Still, given the overwhelming amount of injuries the same faced during the regular season and playoffs, it’s impressive that the Stars managed to win 50 games this season and finish third in the league standings. They’ll want to emphasize rest and recovery for their players this offseason and look to get back for the 2026-27 campaign as a healthy group.
Photo courtesy of Perry Nelson-Imagn Images.
West Notes: Flames Coaches, Rantanen, Karlsson
The Calgary Flames organization announced several news items related to their coaching staff today: head coach Ryan Huska’s entire staff of assistants, including Trent Cull, Dave Lowry, Cail MacLean, video coach Jamie Pringle, and goalie coach Jason LaBarbera, have been signed to two-year contract extensions. Additionally, it was announced that longtime AHL assistant coach Joe Cirella will not return to the organization for 2026-27.
This past season was a difficult one for the Flames, but it’s tough to pin that on their coaching staff. The team is undergoing a significant roster reconstruction, and management has elected to subtract considerable NHL talent from the lineup in order to build a sustainable contending team down the line. While that very well could lead to the Flames competing for Stanley Cups later in this decade or early in the next one, in the immediate term, it means Huska and his staff are coaching with a talent deficit on most nights. While some might still argue that they haven’t made the most of the talent they’ve had access to, however limited, it’s clear the Flames view this staff as the right one to lead the team forward.
Other notes from the Western Conference:
- Dallas Stars forward Mikko Rantanen was fined $5K for cross-checking Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced today. The infraction came during last night’s contest between the two teams, one that saw the Wild end the Stars’ season. Rantanen had a strong campaign for Dallas, scoring 77 points in 64 games. He put up seven points in the team’s six-game series loss, but his overall impact left some, including Mark Lazerus of The Athletic, wanting more.
- Injured Vegas Golden Knights center William Karlsson hit the ice in a standard jersey for the team’s practice today, but that should not be viewed as a sign that his return is imminent. Per Sin Bin Vegas, head coach John Tortorella said that Karlsson’s inclusion was more about getting him around the team as he rehabs than anything else. Karlsson was limited to playing in just 14 games during the regular season as a result of his injury, which is of the lower-body variety. GM Kelly McCrimmon has already indicated that Karlsson is unlikely to return this year unless the Golden Knights have a deep run in the playoffs.
Avalanche Still Big Winners In Martin Necas Acquisition
True NHL dynasties are often defined by more than their roster. It takes confident management decisions to stick at the top of the NHL year-over-year. The Colorado Avalanche proved their willingness to make a big swing in their handling of Mikko Rantanen‘s trade ahead of the 2025 Trade Deadline. Facing a costly contract extension, Colorado opted to trade Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes in late-January. The sudden deal wouldn’t stick for Carolina – who flipped Rantanen to Dallas. The fruits of the move were much more direct for Colorado, who took a homerun swing on Martin Necas‘ ability to replace Rantanen’s role. One season later, as Necas rivals the first 100-point season of his career, it seems the Avalanche hit it well out of the park.
Necas was an instant impact for the Avalanche in the second-half of last season. He scored 11 goals and 28 points in 30 games to close out the regular season, bringing his year-long totals up to 83 points in 79 games. Even through a cloud of trade drama, that performance was a career-year for Necas, whose previous career-high was 71 points. A full summer to adjust to Colorado’s system has quickly made both of his previous heights look slim.
Necas has racked up 36 goals, 94 points, and a plus-46 through 72 games this season. All three of those stats are new personal-bests – eight goals, 11 points, and plus-21 higher than his previous bests. That success comes alongside a league-best performance from the Avalanche roster, led by superstar Nathan MacKinnon, Necas’ new batterymate. MacKinnon’s all-out energy and control over play has allowed Necas to focus on his strengths – but his improvements stand out apart from the top-tier support. Necas has looked explosive off the rush and added a goal-scorer’s ability to bury chances through traffic. He has been there to finish the chances that MacKinnon creates, one of the roles that Rantanen filled in his back-to-back 100-point seasons in 2022-23 and 2023-24. With only four games left on Colorado’s schedule Necas likely won’t reach the 105 points that Rantanen scored in his best year – but he nonetheless brings century-scoring capability to the lineup.
The near-seamless replacement can make it easy to forget the rest of Colorado’s return. The Avalanche also brought in feisty, depth forward Jack Drury and draft capital from the Rantanen trade. They packaged one of those picks – a 2025 second-round pick – alongside William Zellers and Casey Mittelstadt to acquire Charlie Coyle and a pick from the Boston Bruins at the 2025 Trade Deadline. Colorado went one step further after the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, trading Coyle and Miles Wood to the Columbus Blue Jackets for prospect Gavin Brindley, a 2027 second-round pick, and a 2025 third-round pick used on defense prospect Francesco Dell’Elce. Drury and Brindley have already shored up Colorado’s depth chart, while the additional capital boosted a bare Avalanche prospect room.
Reliable depth and future upside are fantastic additions to the value that Necas has brought to the top-line. Colorado also signed Necas to a deal $500K cheaper, and one year longer, than Rantanen landed in Dallas. The Avalanche have won every bet they made in a confusing, and surprising, trade of a top-line star. Even if the 2025-26 season stands as Necas’ career-year, his impact next to MacKinnon could help Colorado stick in Stanley Cup contention through the end of the 2020’s. The Avalanche sit confidently on top of the league – six points ahead of the second-place Hurricanes – with the end of the season nearing. They will enter the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the favorite out of the Western Conference, offering a chance to build on their 2022 Cup win.
Stars Activate Mikko Rantanen Off Injured Reserve
The Stars will welcome back one of their top players as they kick off a back-to-back set this afternoon in Pittsburgh. The team announced (Twitter link) they have have activated winger Mikko Rantanen off injured reserve.
Rantanen was one of several impactful NHL players to be injured at the Olympics last month. He sustained a lower-body injury in the semi-final game against Canada and hasn’t played since then. Considering the long break for the Olympics, Rantanen last suited up for Dallas back on February 4th.
At that time, Rantanen led the team in assists and points. He’s still the team leader in assists with 49 although he now sits third on the team in points with 69 through 53 games. He’s now 16 behind Jason Robertson and nine behind Wyatt Johnston, both of whom have played in all 72 appearances this season.
Rantanen’s absence was never originally expected to keep him out this long. At the time he landed on IR last month, he had previously been listed as doubtful for their first game back after the break and questionable after that. Instead, he wound up missing 15 games.
At this point, it’s highly unlikely that Dallas will be able to chase down Colorado for the Central Division lead; they enter play today with a nine-point deficit in that regard. With that in mind, their focus will likely just be trying to lock down home ice advantage for their eventual first-round matchup against Minnesota.
With that in mind and Dallas playing in a back-to-back set, it wouldn’t be entirely surprising if Rantanen played today but was given tomorrow off for precautionary reasons over throwing him into two games in barely 24 hours. At any rate, getting a top-line winger back should be a big lift for the Stars heading into the stretch run.
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 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.
Dallas Stars Place Mikko Rantanen On IR
Feb. 24: Rantanen will be out for at least two weeks and possibly longer, head coach Glen Gulutzan told reporters today, although he doesn’t expect the injury to end his regular season (via Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas Morning News). That will nonetheless put him out through the trade deadline and keep him out of at least Dallas’ next seven games.
Feb. 23: The Dallas Stars announced today that they have placed star forward Mikko Rantanen on injured reserve, retroactive to Feb. 20, the date of Finland’s loss to Canada in the quarterfinals of the recent Winter Olympic tournament.
Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan told the media today, including Stars Thoughts’ Robert Tiffin, that Rantanen is doubtful to play in the Stars’ first game back from the break, and is questionable beyond that point. According to Tiffin, Gulutzan “didn’t want to speculate” on Rantanen’s status beyond this week.
The team’s roster move suggests Rantanen isn’t set for an extended absence. Since his IR placement was made retroactive to Feb. 20, he will be eligible for activation as early as Feb. 27. If the team held a firm expectation that Rantanen would miss well over a week, it is less likely that they would have directly clarified the retroactive nature of his IR placement in their announcement post.
Rantanen’s injury didn’t end up costing Finland, as they cruised past Slovakia to earn a bronze medal. His injury, while seemingly minor in the grand scheme of the Stars’ season, threatens to seriously impact their odds of winning the games he’s set to miss. Rantanen is arguably Dallas’ most talented forward, currently leading the team in scoring with 69 points in 54 games.
Rantanen leads all Stars forwards in time-on-ice per game and is widely considered one of the game’s top wingers. Missing him, even for a handful of games, will hurt the Stars. With that said, Gulutzan’s comments combined with how the Stars have announced Rantanen’s IR placement suggest the star winger won’t be sidelined for too long, which is certainly good news for Dallas.
Mikko Rantanen To Miss Bronze Medal Game Due To Injury
A handful of key NHL players have been sidelined with an injury at the 2026 Olympics. Another player has been added to that list as Lejionat’s Jaakko Pertilla reported that Finnish winger Mikko Rantanen was scratched for the Bronze Medal Game against Slovakia due to a lower-body injury.
Rantanen was a full participant in Saturday’s semi-final matchup against Canada. He scored the opening goal of the game and logged 16:09 of ice time in 25 shifts. The 29-year-old came into today’s game as Finland’s leading scorer with two goals and four assists in five games with an ATOI of 18:14.
Of course, this is significant news for Rantanen’s NHL team as well as the veteran is the leading scorer for the Stars this season. In 54 games, he has 20 goals and 49 assists while averaging more than 20 minutes a night of playing time. Any absence from NHL games would be significant.
To that end, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that the injury occurred in the third period on Saturday and is not considered to be season-ending. He’s expected to be evaluated when he returns to Dallas to determine the exact severity and how much time he could miss.
Taking Rantanen’s spot on Finland’s top line is Oliver Kapanen, who has been scratched for three games and dressed as the 13th forward without seeing the ice in the other two. Meanwhile, Eeli Tolvanen will return to the lineup after being healthy-scratched versus Canada.
Central Notes: Rantanen, Nichushkin, Predators
The Dallas Stars are the latest team struck by the flu, as Mikko Rantanen will not play tonight as a result of the illness, as first reported by Tim Cowlishaw of The Dallas News. In a skid of late where they’ve dropped six of their last 10, including three in a row, the Stars will host the surging Bruins without their leading scorer, who has 63 points in 48 games.
Rantanen will look ahead to later in the week, as his Stars are in action Thursday and Friday, but do not play in the upcoming weekend. For now, Nathan Bastian will slot into the lineup, the 28-year-old posting three goals in 22 games this season in limited fourth line duty.
Elsewhere across the division:
- Colorado Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin also missed action for abnormal reasons; he was involved in a car accident while heading to the rink before last night’s contest, Head Coach Jared Bednar told reporters including Corey Masisak of The Denver Post. Unfortunately, Nichushkin came away with minor injuries, and is considered questionable for tomorrow against Anaheim. The Russian has continued to be a valuable secondary scorer for the Avs with 27 points in 38 games, and could return as soon as tomorrow against Anaheim. Even without him, Colorado handled business last night, defeating Washington 5-2.
- Nashville Predators GM Barry Trotz told reporters, including Nick Kieser of Lower Broad Pucks, that he has yet to speak to pending unrestricted free agents Michael Bunting, Michael McCarron, and Cole Smith. All aged 30 as the Predators build for the future, Bunting especially could bring intrigue to contenders, although he has a $4.5MM cap hit. The agitating winger has continued his steady offensive output this season, on pace for 20 goals. Bunting has also stayed out of the penalty box, an improvement from previous seasons. On the other hand, McCarron and Smith are both pillars on Nashville’s fourth line, and could be candidates for reasonable extensions rather than Trotz taking limited trade returns for his towering role players.