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Radek Faksa

Dallas Stars Leading Chase For Erik Karlsson

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After the Ottawa Senators offered superstar defenseman Erik Karlsson a contract that was not well-received, the team gave interested competitors the permission to speak to him about contract terms. NBC Sports’ Kathryn Tappen reported that the Senators’ offer was for eight years at $10MM per season, an amazing amount of money to a layperson but truthfully an insult to Karlsson in light of recent contracts signed by Drew Doughty and John Tavares. As such, Tappen and others have added that other teams are now in hot pursuit and serious trade talks are underway.

As of this evening, the leader in those talks are the Dallas Stars. The Athletic’s Chris Stevenson has heard from a source in the NHL that the Stars have emerged as a front runner for Karlsson and that Dallas and Ottawa are deep in talks about a trade that would include the Norris Trophy winner but not overpaid forward Bobby Ryan, a major hindrance in many teams’ acquisition plans. Stevenson is based in Ottawa and is allegedly close to the Senators and his The Athletic colleague in Dallas, Sean Shapiro, says that he has also heard that the Stars are legitimately interested and that a hypothetical deal is a real possibility.

Immediately, the question is what the potential return for the Senators could be that would both pry Karlsson out of Ottawa but also keep Ryan there. Shapiro believes that any deal for Karlsson would have to include young defenseman Julius Honka, while Ottawa may actually prefer a more established name like Esa Lindell. It would also make sense for the Sens to target the Stars top blue line prospect, 2017 third overall pick Miro Heiskanen. Others who could be part of the package include young two-way centers Radek Faksa or Devin Shore, recently re-acquired winger Valeri Nichushkin, and project forward Riley Tufte. While only time will tell if a trade is completed and what the pieces will be, this is the first time that any specific team has been confirmed to be in real trade talks for Karlsson and it now seems like only a matter of time before the all-word defender is traded, to Dallas or elsewhere.

Dallas Notes: Ritchie, Faksa, Pitlick, Oleksiak, Smith

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The Dallas Stars announced they have placed winger Brett Ritchie on injured reserve today retroactive to Oct. 30. He suffered an upper-body injury and while he was listed as day-to-day, the newest update suggests he could miss up to another week with the injury.

The 24-year-old wing has struggled so far this year with just one goal and one assist in 12 games this year. Ritchie ranked fourth on the team last year, potting 16 goals in 78 games. The 2011 second-round pick has just 15 shots on goal in those 12 games and has seen his average ice time drop to 12:03, down from a career average of 13:00.

The move was made as the team suddenly has been hit with a flurry of injuries, with center Radek Faksa and Tyler Pitlick both being listed as doubtful for Monday’s home game against the Winnipeg Jets, while veteran center Martin Hanzal is listed as questionable, according to NHL.com’s Sean Shapiro. Putting Ritchie on IR will allow the team to make a roster move and call up a player from the Texas Stars either later today or tomorrow.

Faksa, who suffered an apparent leg injury in Saturday’s game, also has been showing improvement in his game, picking up a goal and an assist in their win over the Buffalo Sabres. Pitlick is also listed as doubtful with an upper-body injury, but no other clarification, according to Shapiro.

  • Shapiro also tweets the team may turn to defenseman Jamie Oleksiak in an emergency and ask him to play the forward position on Monday. Oleksiak has only appeared in eight games so far this season and has been a healthy scratch for the last two.
  • Scott Burnside of NHL.com writes that head coach Ken Hitchcock praised the play of Gemel Smith as the team’s most improved player after Saturday’s game. Despite struggling to get on the scoreboard in the first few games that he’s been in, the 23-year-old was instrumental in aiding the team’s four-goal first period Saturday as he picked up his first two assists of the season. His rushes on net helped open up goal scoring opportunities on both Faksa’s and Stephen Johns goals in that period. “He’s a hockey player,” Hitchcock said of Smith. “He acts like a hockey player and plays like a hockey player. You don’t have to tell him twice. He has a feel for the game and does a lot of things that just help you win hockey games. He’s underrated offensively and he’s competitive and really good on the boards. He builds you good minutes every night.”

 

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Dallas Stars

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Navigating the Salary Cap is probably one of the more important tasks for any general manager to have. Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2017-18 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

Dallas Stars

Current Cap Hit: $75,196,355 (over the $75MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Devin Shore (One year remaining, $870K)
D Julius Honka (Two years remaining, $863K)

Potential Bonuses

Honka: $500K

Total: $500K

Despite a disappointing season a year ago, the Dallas Stars did have some young players who showed some promise. Shore was one of those players. A second-round pick in 2010, the 23-year-old had a decent first year with the Stars, scoring 13 goals and adding 20 assists and playing in all 82 contests. What Shore did not get much of was ice time, as he averaged just 14:08 on the ice. That may change this year as there are many who believe he could be a top-six forward right now. Honka is another player who got a little bit of time with the Stars last year. The 21-year-old defender, their first-round pick from 2014, has already fared well with the AHL’s Texas Stars. He scored seven goals and added 24 assists in 50 games with them and got 16 games with Dallas at the end of the year and picked up five points. He is a likely candidate to make the team this year.

One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level

G Kari Lehtonen ($5.9MM, UFA)
D Dan Hamhuis ($3.75MM, UFA)
F Antoine Roussel ($2MM, UFA)
D Jamie Oleksiak ($965K, RFA)
D Patrik Nemeth ($945K, RFA)
D Greg Pateryn ($800K, UFA)
D Stephen Johns ($725K, RFA)
F Curtis McKenzie ($700K, UFA)
F Brian Flynn ($700K, UFA)
F Mattias Janmark ($700K, RFA)
F Adam Cracknell ($675K, UFA)

That’s a long list, but the team really has few major worries about re-signing free agents next season. Lehtonen was a buyout candidate this offseason after the team had too many goaltenders. Instead, they held onto him to be their backup, but at $5.9MM, that’s an expensive backup who played 59 games and had a save percentage of .902. The team will rejoice at their salary cap savings next season. As for Hamhuis, the 34-year-old blueliner will need to have a big year if he wants another contract.

The 27-year-old Roussel is a different story. Everything depends on how he plays, but Dallas would like to see more offense than 12 goals from him to go with his 115 penalty minutes he picked up last year. The same holds true for Oleksiak, although he will be a restricted free agent, but the 24-year-old defenseman must show he can win a full-time job. He only managed 41 games last year. Johns, however, will likely be retained next year. He managed to get into 61 games last year and currently expected to make the team.

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Penguins’ 3rd-Line Center Options

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With the loss of Nick Bonino to Nashville via free agency, the reigning champion Pittsburgh Penguins have a gaping hole down the middle. For the first time in over a decade, the center position is now one of relative weakness. It’s always a possibility that Matt Cullen decides to re-sign for one more year, but he will not be able to carry the load of a typical 3rd-line center. Cullen showed signs of slowing down toward the tail-end of the team’s playoff run, and he was only averaging 13:55 a game through the regular season. At 41 years old, he simply won’t be a viable long-term option. The Penguins likely have high hopes for Zach Aston-Reese to make a push in training camp, but he is an unknown quantity at the NHL level. GM Jim Rutherford had 5 potential trade options in the works prior to July 1st, according to the very reliable Josh Yohe of DKPittsburghSports. Talks either fizzled or were put on the back-burner, but one might imagine the number of available targets is far fewer now. With Dallas’ three-year signing of Radek Faksa, there is one fewer name left for consideration. Vegas seems to be content with merely flipping defensemen from here on in, although names such as Cody Eakin and William Karlsson shouldn’t be thrown out entirely. Erik Haula is likely a pipe-dream, but he’s another possible target. Matt Duchene was linked for a time, but between the high cost and the stubbornness of Colorado GM Joe Sakic to make a move, he seems incredibly unlikely.

Who are the safest bets for an off-season move? Or will Pittsburgh enter the season with someone unproven slotting behind Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin?

Tyler Bozak

Bozak has made tons of sense since his name was first mentioned. A lot has been made of his relationship with Phil Kessel. When they played on a line together in Toronto, Kessel saw some of his best career production. More than that however – the Leafs are in a bit of cap pinch as they will look to free up dollars for Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander in the next two seasons. They certainly aren’t in any hurry to drop underneath the ceiling due to LTIR intricacies, but moving out Bozak’s $4.2 MM for this next season would be a forward looking move. If he’s due a raise, it’s likely they’ll lose him for far less, as his contract expires at the end of 2017-18. The move makes sense for Pittsburgh because of the Kessel relationship, but also because he fits the mold of the Pittsburgh squad. He’s a solid skater, sees the ice well, and hustles back into his own zone. His playmaking abilities would be a wonderful fit on the cheap to aid the high-powered offense, and the player would be a positive possession asset to remove the stress from the bigger guns. Bozak does have a modified no-trade clause, but it’s hard to see Pittsburgh being included on his list of non-tradeable teams.

Jordan Staal

Staal saw a lot of success in Pittsburgh before he was traded away to Carolina at the 2012 draft. Jordan was traded to that team in particular due to his desire to player with his older brother Eric Staal. Seeing as Eric is no longer in the picture, it would make sense that Staal might be open to a Pittsburgh reunion. Staal is one of the better defensive centers in the league, and has been forced to take a more uncomfortably offensive role in Carolina. Staal’s biggest downside is that he isn’t the most agile skater, but he’s not any slower than Nick Bonino was. That said, he can play the shutdown role and be a total nuisance for top opponents. Rutherford loves the player, as he was the GM of Carolina when they initially acquired the player, for a hefty sum of Brandon Sutter, Brian Dumoulin, and a 1st-round pick (which became Derrick Pouilot). According to Yohe, Staal is apparently open to a return, and the nostalgic element of the team’s fanbase is clamoring for this to happen. Rutherford stated on a local radio segment with Ron Cook that “to his knowledge he (Staal) isn’t available”, but he’s played coy with the media in the past.

Out Of Left-Field

Rutherford has been known to throw the hockey world for a loop with some of his trades. The James Neal–Patric Hornqvist trade shocked just about everyone, and the Phil Kessel trade is still being discussed to this day. If there’s one thing we should expect from him, it’s the unexpected. There are a few lesser options out there for Rutherford to explore, and management may want to have the Conor Sheary and Brian Dumoulin contracts put to paper before making any sort of transaction. It seems unlikely that anything will happen until those deals get done. Rutherford told Jason Mackey of the Post-Gazette that there are “hundreds of names on (his list)”, and that it’s “a patient process”. Could Detroit be willing to move Andreas Athanasiou? Could Bryan Little be pried from Winnipeg for a young defenseman? It’s hard to speculate as to where exactly management have set their sights, but Rutherford is generally willing to overpay to “get his man”. There is the slight likelihood that they enter the season with that hole left unfilled, but it’s hard to imagine. Until more dominoes fall, Rutherford is likely to bide his team and search for the correct deal.

Dallas Stars Re-Sign Gemel Smith

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After locking up Radek Faksa to a new contract yesterday, GM Jim Nill and the Dallas Stars were back at it again today, announcing an extension for forward Gemel Smith. Smith signed a one-year, two-way deal with financial terms not yet disclosed.

Smith made his NHL debut in 2016-17, skating in 17 games and recording three goals and three assists. He also added 33 points in 53 games with the AHL’s Texas Stars. The 2012 fourth-round pick hadn’t found that kind of scoring success since he was a star forward with the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack.

While Smith seemed poised to take on a bigger role with Dallas this season, the additions of Alexander Radulov, Martin Hanzal and maybe even Tyler Pitlick and Brian Flynn could mean even less opportunity for Smith. At just 5’10”, Smith plays a surprisingly hard-nosed, physical game. He may need to focus more on that side of his game than his offensive ability to earn his initial role with Dallas.

Stars Sign Radek Faksa To Three-Year Extension

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The Dallas Stars have a done deal with priority restricted free agent Radek Faksa. The team announced that they have signed the 23-year-old center to a three-year, $6.6MM extension. The big Czech forward will still be a restricted free agent when his new contract expires after the 2019-20 season.

Faksa’s $2.2MM yearly cap hit would be a bargain for most teams in the NHL. In just his second NHL season, Faksa skated in 80 games, logging over 16 minutes of ice time per game, and registered 33 points. Yet, in the context of Dallas’ big off-season, that relatively small cap hit further frustrates the Stars’ difficult cap crunch. Dallas has added Martin Hanzal, a center like Faksa, to a three-year deal that pays him $4.75MM each year, and one of the biggest names on the free agent market, winger Alexander Radulov, to a five-year deal that pays out $6.25MM annually, already this summer. Additionally, they traded for defenseman Marc Methot from the Vegas Golden Knights and the remaining two years and $9.8MM on his contract. Hanzal, Radulov, and Methot join Jamie Benn ($9.5MM), Jason Spezza ($7.5MM), Tyler Seguin ($5.75MM), John Klingberg ($4.25MM), Ben Bishop ($4.92), and Kari Lehtonen ($5.9MM) on a roster that is bursting with talent, but toppling the salary cap ceiling as well. With Faksa’s new deal, the Stars are committed to $74.2MM for a full roster of 23 players, but still have to re-sign RFA defenseman Jamie Oleksiak and will be hard-pressed for flexibility regardless.

The Faksa extension would seem to rule out the talked-about idea of the team trading the young pivot, but the team will have to make a move somewhere. It seems unlikely that Dallas is done dealing this off-season.

Free Agent Focus: Dallas Stars

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The free agent period is now less than a week away from opening up.  Several prominent players are set to hit the open market and many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  Here is a breakdown of the Dallas Stars’ free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agents: D Esa Lindell. The 23-year-old has only played one full year in the NHL, but has quickly established himself as a top-four blueliner and now already needs to get paid. While Dallas is looking into acquiring a top defenseman such as Washington’s Karl Alzner, Lindell is already inked into the lineup and the young defender should only get better with experience. His six goals and 12 assists may just be the beginning. His AAV of $925,000 should go up quite a bit.

F Radek Faksa. With the disappearance of several key veterans like Cody Eakin and Patrick Eaves, among others, there are numerous holes in the Stars’ lineup and locking up Faksa should be a top priority for the franchise. Faksa, the team’s first-round pick in 2012, completed his first full season with the Stars this year, finishing with 12 goals and 21 assists, while playing on the team’s third line. Making $1.34MM last year, Faksa should get a solid raise.

Other RFA’s: D Mattias Backman, D Nick Ebert, G Henri Kiviaho, G Maxime Lagace, F Mark McNeill, D Patrik Nemeth, D Jamie Oleksiak, F Brett Ritchie, F Gemel Smith.

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: F Patrick Sharp. The veteran winger is coming off an injury-plagued season in which he missed time due to a concussion and then had season-ending hip surgery in March. Because of that, Sharp, a four-time 30-goal scorer finished with eight goals and 10 assists in 48 games. While at 35 years old, no one is expecting a 30-goal season, Sharp could still be good for 15-20 goals. The Stars, needing to fill holes at the forward position, have shown interest in bringing him back. While it’s highly doubtful, he’d be able to get the $5.9MM contract he had last year, he still could receive a solid offer from a team needing a veteran scorer.

Ales Hemsky: The 33-year-old veteran is also coming off multiple injuries in which he missed more than four months of play due to hip and groin injuries. The veteran center only managed to get into 15 games for seven points. However, he had 13 goals and 39 points one year ago and could be worthy of bringing back on a short-term deal to fill a bottom line slot. While Hemsky made $4MM last year, he may need to take a low-level “prove it” offer.

Other UFA’s: F Jiri Hudler, G Justin Peters, D Dustin Stevenson.

Projected Cap Space: The Stars have $52.5MM invested in 15 players, so they will have to fill in multiple holes with the remaining $22.5MM in available cap space, although they have several restricted free agents they need to re-sign. However, assuming Dallas buys out goaltender Antti Niemi, the team should have even more room to work with. The Stars have high hopes to sign a top free agent such as Alzner to their defense. However, the team may also add some veterans on shorter-term deals to plug the holes for another year.

Stars Notes: Nichushkin, Expansion, Honka

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When Valeri Nichushkin left for the KHL last summer after having trouble with Dallas Stars head coach Lindy Ruff, the team lost one of its best young assets to a rival league. The former 10th-overall draft pick had put up 34 points in his rookie season, then missed most of the next year after hip surgery but came back with another solid 29 point season as a 20-year old last year. He looked like a star (pun intended) in the making in Dallas, ready to break out over the next few seasons.

Well, breakout he did, just on the wrong continent. With 24 points in 36 games, Nichushkin was outstanding for CSKA Moscow when he was healthy. He is under contract for one more season with the Russian team, but Jim Nill was on the radio today saying (via Mark Stepneski of NHL.com) that he would like to bring him back to North America eventually. The now 22-year old would be a nice addition if they could get him under contract, as they’re likely losing Ales Hemsky, Patrick Sharp and Jiri Hudler this year—not to mention Patrick Eaves and Lauri Korpikoski, who they dealt at the deadline.

  • According to Stepneski, Nill also said that he likely will protect Nichushkin in the upcoming expansion draft, something that would complicate things quite a bit. Protecting Nichushkin would leave one of Antoine Roussel, Brett Ritchie, Radek Faksa or Cody Eakin exposed, none of whom the Stars could afford losing for nothing. While leaving Nichushkin exposed isn’t perfect, it would be hard to see Vegas taking a swing at him not knowing for sure if he’d ever come back to the NHL. Perhaps the Stars will work out a deal with the Golden Knights on who to take, as they currently look like they’ll lose an effective player in the draft.
  • Julius Honka will be back up with the NHL team at some point, to play another 8-10 games with the big club before the end of the season. The top prospect played 10 games earlier in the season for the team, and has thrived at the AHL level for three straight years. There will be no playoff run for the Texas Stars of the AHL this season, as they currently sit in seventh place in their division with a 27-29-4 record.

Dallas Stars Sign Curtis McKenzie To One-Year Extension

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The Stars have completed their expansion draft protection, signing Curtis McKenzie to a one-year, $700K extension. They also have announced a two-year entry-level deal for goaltending prospect Landon Bow. Both contracts will begin during the 2017-18 season. Curtis McKenzie

As we predicted when the Stars extended Adam Cracknell earlier this week, McKenzie was the obvious choice for the Stars to extend and fulfill their expansion draft requirements up front. While Brett Ritchie or Radek Faksa could have been exposed to cover the requirements, both will likely be protected by the team. They now have Cracknell, McKenzie and Dan Hamhuis as expansion draft fodder that fill the 70/40 requirement.

McKenzie has played 43 games for the team this season, recording 11 points and 67 penalty minutes. His fourth-line role has been expanded slightly of late after the Stars shipped Patrick Eaves and Lauri Korpikoski out of town at the deadline. Whether he continues in that role next season is still to be determined, but he’ll benefit from the expansion draft with some guaranteed money. The 26-year old actually has two game-winning goals this season, and does have a bit of offensive upside to his game.

In his first season of professional hockey in 2013-14, McKenzie broke out with 65 points in 75 AHL contests. He has followed it up with more solid minor league numbers, though his impact at the NHL level has been less noticeable.  For a Stars team that will need to reload this offseason and try again while Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin are in their prime, McKenzie and his relatively low cap-hit could come in handy in their bottom-six.

Bow on the other hand is a 21-year old undrafted goaltender that has split time between the ECHL and AHL this season. His numbers while in the American league are poor, but has shown at least enough ability to be an intriguing lottery ticket. Goaltenders often mature much later into their game than other positions, and Bow was exceptional in his final season of junior hockey after already being passed over in the draft. Probably nothing more than organizational filler, he at least is worth an ELC to see what he can do. The Stars need all the goaltending help they can get, as the tandem of Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi continue to struggle at the NHL level.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Stars Notes: Roussel, Elie, Hemsky

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Injuries, a significant factor in the Dallas Stars disappointing season, continue to haunt the club as according to Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News, Antoine Roussel is now expected to miss essentially the rest of the season with a hand injury. The physical winger, who leads the NHL in PIM’s with 115, is in the midst of a career offensive campaign with 12 goals and 27 points in 60 appearances. Given that pace, Roussel would have finished with roughly 16 goals and 37 points had he completed the campaign healthy. Instead it appears as if the Stars will be without another of their key contributors for a lengthy stretch.

The bright side, if it can really be called that, is the Stars now have the opportunity to see what some of their AHL talent can do at the NHL level. First up will be Remi Elie, the team’s second-round draft choice in 2013 who has 25 points in 50 games with the AHL’s Texas Stars. Elie was called up last week but didn’t get into a game. Now it appears he will make his NHL debut after the team recalled him from Texas on an emergency basis.

Heika also reports that forward Adam Cracknell, out since February 18th with a lower-body injury, may be ready to return to the lineup as early as Monday when the Stars travel to Washington to face the Capitals. Cracknell, a veteran of seven NHL campaigns, is having a solid season with a career-high seven goals in 52 games while registering a +10 plus/minus rating.

The news of Roussel’s injury comes on the heels of the long-awaited return of scoring forward Ales Hemsky, who made just his second appearance of the season following surgery to repair a groin injury suffered during the World Cup. In a separate piece for the Dallas Morning News, Heika writes that Hemsky “hopes to make a statement” down the stretch in order to prove that he is once again fully healthy and able to contribute secondary scoring to teams who may be in that market this summer. Hemsky, in the final year of a three-year deal with the Stars, is poised to hit free agency and a strong performance in the season’s final leg would likely position the 33-year-old winger to earn an NHL contract next year despite missing much of the current campaign.

For his part, the veteran of 14 NHL seasons would like to return to Dallas and rekindle the chemistry he shared with Radek Faksa and Roussel in 2015-16. According to Heika, that trio was at times the Stars’ best line for a three-month stretch last year and given the likelihood the team will fancy itself a potential contender next season, bringing back a healthy and productive Hemsky on a short-term deal could prove to be a wise and relatively inexpensive move.

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