- Stars forwards Radek Faksa and Mason Marchment will be game-time decisions for the second contest in a row ahead of Game 4 against the Golden Knights tomorrow, head coach Peter DeBoer said (via the Dallas Morning News’ Lia Assimakopoulos). Neither played in last night’s 3-2 overtime win, paving the way for Ty Dellandrea and Craig Smith to make their series debuts. They practiced with the team today after sustaining undisclosed injuries late in Game 2’s loss.
Stars Rumors
Radek Faksa, Mason Marchment Game-Time Decisions For Game 3
The Stars still don’t know if banged-up forwards Radek Faksa and Mason Marchment can play in Game 3 against the Golden Knights as they try to overcome a 2-0 series deficit. As relayed by The Dallas Morning News’ Lia Assimakopoulos, they’re both game-time decisions after sustaining undisclosed injuries in Game 2.
Dallas lost their services in the third period of Wednesday’s game, as neither player took a shift in the final 10 minutes of the 3-1 loss. The potential loss of Marchment is an especially large blow to the Stars’ elite secondary scoring, which Vegas has managed to keep quiet through two games. He’s one of three Stars with a goal in the series so far and set career highs across the board in the regular season with 22 goals and 53 points in 81 games. He’d been skating on their second line with Matt Duchene and Tyler Seguin.
Stars Recall Mavrik Bourque
The Stars recalled forward Mavrik Bourque from AHL Texas, per a team announcement. After being named the AHL’s MVP for 2023-24 yesterday, he’s now eligible to dress in tomorrow’s Game 3 of their first-round series against the Golden Knights.
Bourque, 22, made his lone regular-season appearance on April 6 against the Blackhawks. The 5’10” pivot is in his second professional season after turning pro out of the QMJHL’s Shawinigan Cataractes, whom he captained in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons. Dallas acquired his signing rights by making him the 30th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, signing him to his entry-level contract the following March.
The right-shot center has quickly cemented himself as one of the best in a deep Stars prospect pool. He played all but one of Texas’ 72 regular-season games, leading the AHL in points with 77 (29 goals, 51 assists). He has two goals and two assists in two games thus far in the Calder Cup Playoffs as Texas swept its best-of-three First Round series against Manitoba. As they don’t begin their Central Division Semifinal clash against Milwaukee until next Thursday, recalling Bourque doesn’t harm the Stars’ minor-league club.
Bourque, along with Ty Dellandrea and Craig Smith (both healthy scratches in Games 1 and 2), could enter the series if Radek Faksa and/or Mason Marchment are unable to play as action shifts to Las Vegas. Both are day-to-day due to undisclosed injuries sustained in Game 2 on Wednesday. The Western Conference regular-season winners dropped both games at home and are down 2-0 against the defending Stanley Cup champs.
Bourque has one season left on his ELC and will challenge for a roster spot out of camp next fall. He won’t require waivers for reassignment until he plays two more professional seasons or 159 NHL games, whichever comes first.
Logan Stankoven Wins AHL Rookie Of The Year
Dallas Stars winger Logan Stankoven has won the 2024 Red Garrett Memorial Award as the AHL’s Rookie of the Year (Twitter link). This comes after Stankoven posted 24 goals and 57 points in his first 47 minor-league games. His 1.21 points-per-game is the highest scoring pace from an AHL rookie since Jack Quinn posted 61 points in 45 games in the 2021-22 season. Quinn also won the league’s Rookie of the Year award that year. The last AHL rookie to come close to Quinn and Stankoven’s scoring pace was Jake Guentzel all the way back in the 2016-17 season.
While it’s usually hard to find a correlation between most awards and NHL success, the AHL Rookie of the Year typically manages a fine NHL career – something made evident by past winners Quinn, Joshua Norris, and the 2015 tie between Mikko Rantanen and Frank Vatrano. Stankoven seems on a fast track to join his peers, gaining a consistent role in Dallas’ top-six just a few games into his NHL career. He finished the regular season with 14 points in 24 NHL games. He’s also recorded one point in his first two Stanley Cup Playoff appearances, looking plenty adjusted to the fast pace of the NHL postseason.
Dallas is undoubtedly giddy over just how well Stankoven’s first professional season has gone. The former Kamloops Blazers captain was very highly acclaimed during his four-year WHL career, posting 260 points in 179 games and becoming the highest-scoring Blazer since 2013. But played-out concerns about his 5’8″ frame and ability to engage physically dropped Stankoven to the second round of the 2021 NHL Draft, where Dallas quickly took advantage of the rest of the league’s oversight. Two years later, he’s now being awarded for a dazzling start to his pro career and playing meaningful minutes in the postseason. Stankoven was Dallas’ second pick of the 2021 Draft, follwoing the team’s selection of Wyatt Johnston at 23rd-overall.
Stankoven was one regular-season game shy of solidifying this year as his NHL rookie season. That means he’ll remain eligible for the Calder Trophy next season, when he’s sure to have a much more clear-cut role in Dallas’ electric offense. He could also be more formally regrouped with center prospect Mavrik Borque, who led the AHL in scoring this season and formed a dynamic duo with Stankoven earlier in the year.
11 Teams Face Cap Overage Penalties Next Season
With the salary cap largely being flat the last few years, more teams have had to dip into LTIR when injuries have come up. Accordingly, the number of teams facing bonus overage penalties has also risen. This year is no exception as Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports in collaboration with CapFriendly that 11 teams are currently facing cap overage penalties for 2024-25 as a result of bonuses achieved this season.
When a team finishes up the season using LTIR to stay cap-compliant, they don’t have any regular cap space to which bonuses can be applied against. Accordingly, that results in LTIR teams that have incentives that are met finishing over the cap, yielding overage penalties. Whatever amount they finished 2023-24 over by is then deducted off the Upper Limit for next season.
The teams that are confirmed to have bonus overage penalties are as follows:
Edmonton Oilers: $3.45MM*
Dallas Stars: $2,595,407
Washington Capitals: $2.2525MM
Los Angeles Kings: $1.85MM
New Jersey Devils: $1,538,897
Montreal Canadiens: $1.0225MM
Ottawa Senators: $850K
New York Rangers: $512.5K*
Minnesota Wild: $425K*
Philadelphia Flyers: $245K
Boston Bruins $50K*
Teams denoted with an asterisk could see their bonus overage increase if the following happens:
Edmonton: Corey Perry’s contract calls for $50K if the Oilers make the Western Conference Final and another $50K if they reach the Stanley Cup Final.
New York: Theirs would increase by $25K if they win the Stanley Cup, a bonus in Jonathan Quick’s deal.
Minnesota: Marco Rossi can make $212.5K if he makes the All-Rookie Team which would then be added to the Wild’s carryover penalty.
Boston: Milan Lucic will receive $200K if the Bruins win the Stanley Cup as part of his contract.
In addition to the above, Carolina and Florida also have the potential for an overage contingent on the playoffs. The Hurricanes would have a $50.45K penalty if Jackson Blake plays in 20 games between the regular season and playoffs. Meanwhile, the Panthers would take a $500K hit if they win the Stanley Cup to cover that bonus in Kyle Okposo’s contract.
Team-by-team details with specifics on how each one got to the point of an overage were covered separately by PuckPedia.
It’s the first time that multiple teams will carry overage penalties of more than $2MM into the following season. With the cap expected to go up by closer to $4MM this summer, that could in theory take some pressure off from the bonus overage perspective but only if teams leave themselves a bit more wiggle room to work with. There’s a good chance that won’t happen so we’re quite likely to see these penalties again next season though with perhaps fewer teams getting the hit next time around.
Stars' Lian Bichsel Barred From Team Switzerland Through 2026 Olympics
Top Stars defenseman Lian Bichsel won’t be representing his native Switzerland at the international level for the next two seasons. That’s due to an internal suspension from the program’s head coach, Patrick Fischer, assessed because Bichsel declined invitations to the 2023 and 2024 World Juniors (via sport.ch, article in German). The soonest the program will allow him to play is the 2026 World Championship, which Switzerland will host, meaning he won’t be on their roster for the Winter Olympics a few months before.
Stars Recall Derrick Pouliot And Matt Murray
The Stars have made a pair of additions to their roster heading into their opening-round series against Vegas. The team announced that they’ve recalled defenseman Derrick Pouliot and goaltender Matt Murray from AHL Texas.
Pouliot has spent most of the season in the minors, getting into 64 AHL contests where he has been quite productive, notching nine goals and 37 assists, setting new personal benchmarks across the board. That helped earn him five appearances with Dallas where he was held off the scoresheet while logging just over a dozen minutes a night of ice time.
Jani Hakanpaa is making progress in coming back from a lower-body injury that has kept him out for the last month but he’s not quite ready to return. It appears Pouliot will be the seventh defenseman while waiting for Hakanpaa to eventually return.
As for Murray, his addition to the roster isn’t due to an injury to either Jake Oettinger or Scott Wedgewood. Instead, the team has termed his recall as “for purposes of emergency during the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs”. There are no emergency (EBUG) options in the postseason so teams will often make sure to have a third netminder on hand which Murray will serve as.
The 26-year-old played in one NHL contest this season, collecting a 23-save shutout over Minnesota back in January. Meanwhile, he got into 31 contests in Texas, posting a 14-15-2 record with a 3.02 GAA and a save percentage of .896.
Jani Hakanpaa Out, Evgenii Dadonov A Game-Time Decision
Looking to clinch home-ice advantage through the Western Conference Finals tomorrow night against the St. Louis Blues, the Dallas Stars will be without defenseman Jani Hakanpaa according to Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas Morning News. However, in the same report, after being a full participant in practice this morning, forward Evgenii Dadonov will be a game-time decision.
Having already missed the last 13 games for the Stars due to a lower-body injury, the organization does not seem keen to rush Hakanpaa back and potentially reaggravate his injury before the playoffs. Even though he is one of the team’s better physical defensemen, Dallas hasn’t missed a beat in Hakanpaa’s absence, as they’ve produced a 10-2-0 record while limiting opponents to just a 1.92 goals against per game on average.
Stars Sign Arttu Hyry To Entry-Level Deal
The Stars have signed forward Arttu Hyry to a two-year, entry-level deal beginning next season, the team announced. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Hyry, 23, lands his first NHL contract after going undrafted during his eligible period between 2019 and 2022. He’s spent the last six seasons in the Kärpät organization in Finland, making his top-level Liiga debut in 2020-21 before embarking on three seasons in full-team roles with the club.
The speedy 6’2″ forward can play both right-wing and center. He’s coming off a breakout season with Kärpät, recording 31 points (14 goals, 17 assists) with a +19 rating in 55 games. That performance was good enough for fifth in team scoring, and his rating was highest among forwards. He added three goals in 11 postseason contests as Kärpät was eliminated in the semifinals by Pelicans last weekend – he scored the lone goal in a 2-1 overtime loss in the series-deciding Game 5.
The Oulu native was under contract with Kärpät through next season, but the Stars can buy out the contract thanks to the NHL’s transfer agreement with the Liiga. The Stars now have him inked through 2026, at which point he’ll be an RFA upon the expiry of his deal. They’ll maintain team control until the 2028 offseason, at which point he’ll be eligible for unrestricted free agency. He’s a long shot to crack a deep Stars forward group next season and should be expected to begin the year with AHL Texas.
Don Sweeney, Jim Nill To Manage Team Canada At 4 Nations
Team Canada has announced that Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney will serve as the team’s general manager for the upcoming 2025 4 Nations Face-Off. Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill has been named the associate general manager (Twitter link). They were chosen by Doug Armstrong, the management group lead for Canada’s National Men’s Team, with support from Ryan Getzlaf, Scott Salmond, Katherine Henderson, and Pat McLaughlin.
This will be Sweeney’s first time managing an international team – and his first time managing a team not called the Bruins. He’s been confined to the Boston organization since his managerial career began in 2006-07, serving as Boston’s GM for the last nine seasons. His only international experience to this point was 11 games at the 1997 IIHF World Championship, where Sweeney potted four points as Canada paved their way to a Gold Medal. He’s since added the 2011 Stanley Cup and the 2019 General Manager of the Year award to his trophy cabinet, on top of leading some of the most impressive regular season performances the NHL has ever seen.
Sweeney will be flanked by Nill, who has plenty of international experience under his belt. Nill served as Canada’s GM at the 2004 and 2015 World Championships, winning a Gold Medal both times. He also garnered plenty of experience as a player – joining Canada at the 1980 Winter Olympics, the site of America’s prolific Miracle on Ice. That experience could light a fire under Nill, who is bound to face tough competition from the United States at 4 Nations.
The duo of Sweeney and Nill not only connects two of the top GMs in the NHL, it marks the first big step from Armstrong and his new management group for the Canadian National Men’s Team. They will look to takeaway all of the learning lessons that they can, with the 2026 Winter Olympics rapidly approaching.