The Dallas Stars have locked up a big part of their defense, signing Esa Lindell to a six-year contract extension worth $34.8MM. The deal carries a $5.8MM average annual value, and keeps Lindell in Dallas through the 2024-25 season. The deal also includes a full no-movement clause in the final four seasons. CapFriendly gives us the full breakdown:
- 2019-20: $6MM salary, $1MM signing bonus
- 2020-21: $4.8MM salary
- 2021-22: $5MM salary, $2MM signing bonus
- 2022-23: $5MM salary, $1MM signing bonus
- 2023-24: $5MM salary
- 2024-25: $5MM salary
GM Jim Nill explained why the team committed to Lindell:
Esa is a consummate professional who has proven himself dependable in every situation and is just an absolute workhorse. When you combine his strength, conditioning, hockey IQ and skill, he has become an integral part of this team. Along with John Klingberg and Miro Heiskanen, the three make up the foundation of a blueline that will not only be a strength for our club, but one that will be as good as any in the NHL for the foreseeable future.
Lindell, 24, was scheduled to become a restricted free agent this summer but instead will be giving up several UFA years in his new deal. That is part of the reason why the contract’s cap hit is such a big raise on the $2.2MM Lindell earned this season, but the Stars obviously feel comfortable committing that amount of money to him. They have good reason, as the young defenseman has turned into one of the premiere two-way players in the league and averaged more than 24 minutes a night this season for the Stars.
While Klingberg and Heiskanen are often asked to carry much of the offensive load, Lindell serves as a perfect complement that is able to compete at both ends of the rink. He was leaned on heavily in the defensive zone by head coach Jim Montgomery this season and easily led the club in penalty killing time, averaging more than three minutes a game shorthanded. Even with all that responsibility, Lindell still managed to set career highs in goals (11) and points (32) while suiting up in all 82 contests.
In the playoffs Lindell continued to shine, recording four points in 13 games for the Stars while averaging nearly 27 minutes a night. The 6’3″ defenseman is an elite shot blocker, is willing to engage physically and still can move the puck effectively to his more offensive teammates. That package sums up to an excellent player for the Stars, who have found their way back to Stanley Cup contention.
Lindell’s deal though doesn’t come without some risk. His $5.8MM cap hit puts him 26th in the entire league among defenseman and well ahead of Klingberg, who comes in at $4.25MM through 2021-22. Only Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin are signed longer for the Stars, meaning any step backwards by the young defenseman could make his contract into a troubling one for the team. Still, that seems unlikely at this point for a player who has consistently improved since being drafted 74th overall in 2012.
Not only will he provide a legitimate top-4 counterweight to the right-handed Klingberg, Lindell also serves as a more experienced veteran for Heiskanen to look up to and rely on as he takes the next steps of his professional career. The two Finnish defenders will be manning the left side of the Stars’ blue line for years to come, a luxury in today’s NHL.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
What a steal
Greg Louganis never made that much money….oh my, how far has professional “diving” come.
5.8 Cap hit for a guy whos ceiling looks like a 40 point player is hardly a steal
I remember when I only looked at points to rate player performance. It was when I was 7 years old in 1999.
$5.8MM for a paltry +14 is overpaid. Maybe not severely overpaid, but definitely overpaid for such mediocre D. This smacks of a prospector’s contract, hoping that Coach Monty can improve his D-abilities. Tall task…
He’s already elite defensively.. +14 in his situations on the ice is outstanding. He is the Dallas Defense..
He’s more we’ll worth it.. they aren’t paying him to score, they are playing him to be a defensive stalwart, which he is.. The offense is just gravy..
Nevermind i got him confused with someone else.
You’re gonna be disappointed when your find out how valuable .5 PPG defencemen are.
Just curious, how often do you watch the Stars? I understand everyone wants to look at points, but this guy is an absolute beast on defense. He more than makes up for assists by stopping toms of scoring opportunities. His first 3-8 games had me worried this year, he kept having pucks bounce off him and into the net, but they were dumb luck.
I’d argue the assist stat is incredibly overrated, with guys getting an assist in many cases where they really didn’t do anything.
Holy crap. You’ve never even watched Esa, have you??
Rockhard, I’m thinking this is classic sports talk. These guys are most likely north eastern guys who never watch Dallas because we get screwed on schedules and miss national TV time
To suggest Esa has mediocre defense was enough for me. I’m no homer, our teams has its flaws, but a ridiculous statement like that says all that needs to be said. He may as well just announced he doesn’t know what the heck he is talking about.
Esa is nails.
Kscheer, exactly. Points are extremely overrated. Especially assists. Than there are guys that make plays happen but are usually the ones that get the credit point wise. A lot of guys get credit for goals when a D-man takes a shot and it knicks there shoulder or knee. They don’t even know the puck is coming at times and get credit.
I wish deflection goals that aren’t off the deflecting players stick would be assists to the deflector and goals to the guy who took the shot. This would clear up some of the goals versus assists and who really did it.
Guys like Comeau and Cogliano look like poor players if you’re just looking at points. If you watch the game you see how much they make happen.
Nice deal for one of the leagues most underrated.