Originally, Stars defenseman Jani Hakanpaa was listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. However, head coach Peter DeBoer told reporters yesterday including Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas Morning News that the blueliner isn’t skating and won’t be available in the near future as he has been undergoing tests to determine his status. It’s the second time that the 31-year-old has been injured this season as he had an upper-body issue last month. Hakanpaa doesn’t put up many points as he has just 12 in 64 games but leads the team in hits (196) with nearly twice as many as Mason Marchment who sits second (100) while he’s second on the team in blocks with 123 behind only Esa Lindell (133).
Stars Rumors
The Matt Duchene Buyout Was A Win-Win
A year ago, the 2024 free agent class had the potential to be one of the most star-studded in a long time, especially compared to 2023’s unusually weak class that allowed players like Alex Killorn and Dmitry Orlov to receive well above standard market value. While superstars like Auston Matthews and William Nylander have signed extensions and are off the market, there are still multiple impact forwards with point-per-game upside slated to be available, namely longtime Lightning captain Steven Stamkos and Panthers breakout performer Sam Reinhart. The defense market is significantly less appealing, although Noah Hanifin will get a payday somewhere if he doesn’t extend with the Golden Knights, although Vegas will surely attempt to lock in the blue-liner after making a splash for him at the trade deadline.
However, Stars forward Matt Duchene is also quietly producing among the top echelon of pending UFAs. Sitting in the top six in points-per-game alongside Reinhart, Stamkos, Jake Guentzel, Patrick Kane, and Jonathan Marchessault, the 33-year-old has proved to be the best value pickup of last season’s UFA period after the Predators executed a surprising last-minute buyout of the final three seasons of his seven-year, $56MM contract. The one-year, $3MM pact he signed to continue his NHL career in Texas was a mid-tier contract compared to others handed out on July 1. Yet, he’s second among all 2023 UFA signees in scoring, trailing Nashville’s Gustav Nyquist.
It’s been a remarkable return to form over the past few years for a player who, shortly after signing his big payday with the Preds in free agency in 2019, looked to be on one of the worst contracts in the league. An injury-plagued and COVID-laced 2020-21 campaign was easily Duchene’s most disappointing outing in just the second year of his megadeal, missing significant time with lower-body issues and recording career-lows across the board with six goals, seven assists and 13 points while averaging 15:50 per game over 34 contests. In 2019-20, the first season of his contract, he scored only 13 goals in 66 games after crossing the 30-goal mark with Ottawa and Columbus the year prior.
The next two seasons were much more fruitful for the 2009 third-overall pick, who broke out for a career-high 43 goals the following season and put up 142 points in 149 games between 2021 and 2023 while returning to first-line minutes. The stink of the first few seasons of Duchene’s deal had soured the reputation of his contract, though, and with incoming GM Barry Trotz looking to infuse a youth movement into a squad that was stuck in wild-card territory, the team unexpectedly made him one of the top UFAs on the market the day before free agency opened.
Despite Duchene’s success with a divisional rival this year, it’s hard to criticize the decision from Nashville’s perspective. They’ve replaced his production with a cheaper UFA pickup in Nyquist, and freeing up his roster spot has allowed players like Luke Evangelista and Thomas Novak to make more of an impact. That, plus a rebounding Juuse Saros after an unusually slow start, has the Predators cooking with a 14-0-2 record in their last 16 games and the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference all but guaranteed. Much-improved depth scoring has been the Predators’ calling card this year, something that decidedly wouldn’t have occurred without the Duchene buyout.
The buyout will carry some short-term pain, though. Duchene’s cap penalty is a reasonable $2.6MM this season, but it jumps to $5.6MM in 2024-25 and $6.6MM in 2025-26. It’ll coast at $1.6MM from 2026 to 2029, though, almost a non-factor with the salary cap’s projected increase over that period. A retooled prospect pool should allow the Preds to staff some important roles with entry-level contracts over the next few years, however, so the buyout shouldn’t be too severe of an obstacle.
In any event, the Preds are rolling into the playoffs at an incredible pace that routinely proves advantageous to wild-card or lower-seeded teams’ chances of a first-round upset (or further, if you ask last year’s Panthers). No regrets in Smashville, at least not yet.
And the Stars, a potential first-round opponent for the Predators, are thrilled Duchene fell into their lap. With the 15-year veteran set to earn a significant amount of money from his buyout as well, he was more incentivized to settle for a bargain deal on a contender. He’s played a crucial part in Dallas having one of the deepest forward groups in the league, flip-flopping between first- and second-line duties. He’s posted 23 goals and 59 points in 68 games, slightly up from last season’s pace in Nashville despite averaging almost 90 fewer seconds per game. His presence has also helped revitalize Mason Marchment, who, alongside Duchene, has rebounded for a career-high 19 goals and 50 points after a tough first season in the Lone Star State last year.
He’s also straight-up Dallas’ second-leading scorer, ranking second on the team in points per game at 0.87 behind the point-per-game Jason Robertson. After the induction of rookie Logan Stankoven into the major league ranks over the past few weeks, every player in the Stars’ top nine has produced over 0.65 points per game this season. Only one player – captain Jamie Benn – has produced under 0.70.
The only two teams that have scored more per game this season than the Stars are the Avalanche and Maple Leafs. Both have been buoyed by MVP-level seasons from their star first-line centers. Their depth attacks simply don’t compare – Colorado only has one player producing over half a point per game in its entire bottom six (Ross Colton), while the Maple Leafs have none.
With $18.3MM in projected cap space with a roster size of only 12 next season, per CapFriendly, it’s unlikely the Stars will be able to bring Duchene back without him taking a significant discount. Otherwise, Duchene is poised to be the third major beneficiary of the Predators’ decision to buy him out by landing a lucrative short-term deal on the open market this summer. This season, however, he’s helped give Dallas their best chance at a Stanley Cup since 1999’s victory.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Stars Reassign Matt Murray
Mar. 21: Dallas returned Murray to AHL Texas on Thursday, per a team announcement. He did not play in yesterday’s 5-2 win over the Coyotes.
Mar. 20: The Stars have recalled goaltender Matt Murray from AHL Texas ahead of Wednesday’s game against the Coyotes, according to a team announcement. Per Brien Rea of Bally Sports Southwest, backup Scott Wedgewood will miss the contest while on paternity leave, so Murray will be the secondary option to starter Jake Oettinger. The recall comes under emergency conditions, per CapFriendly, so it won’t count against the Stars’ four post-trade deadline standard recalls.
Dallas signed Murray, 26, to an entry-level deal in October 2022 after beginning the season on a minor-league contract with Texas. An ever-consistent starter throughout five seasons at UMass Amherst, posting a SV% north of .910 every year, Murray has now taken a sizable step back from what was a strong rookie showing last year in the minors.
Last year’s strong transition signaled he may be an everyday NHL backup in a few years. The Alberta native clutched the starting role in Texas from NHL veteran Anton Khudobin, posting a .911 SV% and 18-10-5 record in 34 games, along with three shutouts and a .909 SV% in eight postseason appearances.
That showing solidified Murray as the third-string option behind Oettinger and Wedgewood on the depth chart heading into 2023-24. Nearing the end of the season, however, he’s started fewer games than his tandem partner, 22-year-old Rémi Poirier, and his numbers have dipped to a .895 SV% and 13-13-2 record for a Texas team that’s hovered around the .500 mark for most of the campaign. His smaller frame (6-foot-1, 196 lbs) was a concern for NHL clubs when he hit free agency two years ago, and it may now be inhibiting him as he tries to solidify his role in the professional ranks.
Murray is still waivers-exempt, although that will drop next season. He’ll be an RFA this summer with arbitration rights upon completing the one-year, two-way ($775K/$110K/$137.5K) extension he signed to remain with the Stars last offseason.
Stars Sign Justin Hryckowian To Entry-Level Deal
The Stars have signed undrafted free agent center Justin Hryckowian to a two-year, entry-level contract, per a team announcement. While the team did not disclose financial details, they did confirm the deal begins in the 2024-25 season. With his collegiate season over, Hryckowian could sign a tryout with their AHL affiliate in Texas down the stretch.
Hryckowian, 23, turns pro after a three-year collegiate career at Northeastern. The 5-foot-10, 194-lb center had a magnificent end to his season, recording six straight multi-point outings, but it wasn’t enough to keep his Huskies from getting eliminated at the hands of Boston University in the Hockey East playoffs.
Initially eligible for the 2019 NHL draft, Hryckowian was passed over out of high school and again after graduating to major junior hockey with the USHL’s Cedar Rapids RoughRiders and Sioux City Musketeers. That didn’t stop him from seamlessly transitioning to collegiate play during his freshman year at Northeastern in 2021-22, when he finished fourth on the team in scoring with 22 points in 27 games. He tallied well over a point per game over the following two years, bringing his career totals at Northeastern up to 35 goals and 101 points in 94 contests. He closed out his junior year with a team-leading 43 points and a +24 rating in 32 contests, including five goals and 13 points in the last six games of the season.
A two-way threat, Hryckowian won back-to-back Best Defensive Forward honors from the Hockey East conference and was a nominee for this year’s Hobey Baker Award, although he wasn’t named to the group of 10 finalists. The L’Île-Bizard, Québec, native now looks to make another smooth jump between levels and be a solid top-nine contributor to AHL Texas next year in hopes of earning an NHL recall before his ELC expires. He’ll be eligible for restricted free agency upon expiry in 2026.
West Notes: Seguin, Hakanpaa, Hertl, Pietrangelo
Top Dallas Stars forward Tyler Seguin has hopefully worked his way back from a long-term absence, with head coach Pete DeBoer designating him as a game-time decision on Wednesday (Twitter Link). DeBoer was still cautious about saying too much, though, mentioning the team will see how Seguin feels tomorrow. The Stars were also without defenseman Jani Hakanpaa at practice on Tuesday. He’s facing a lower-body injury and carries a day-to-day timeline.
Seguin has been out since February 22nd, missing Dallas’ last 11 games. He’s been a force when he is on the ice, scoring 20 goals and 45 points in just 58 appearances this season. That puts him on an 82-game pace of 28 goals and 64 points, which would mark the most Seguin has scored since his 80-point season in 2018-19. His return to form is part of an emphatic wave of offense taking over Dallas this season, with nine different Stars carrying 45 or more points this season. They rank second in the league in total goals for and goals-per-game, sat behind the Colorado Avalanche in both stats.
Seguin will likely bump Ty Dellandrea out of the lineup, while Hakanpaa’s absence will open the way for Nils Lundkvist to return. If he does step in, Lundkvist will be playing in his first game since March 8th, when he appeared in just over nine minutes of Dallas’ 6-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks. He’s been purely a bottom-pair defenseman this season, averaging roughly 15 minutes of ice time and serving as a prime candidate for reduced minutes if the flow of the game requires it. But he’s managed the best scoring pace of his career, with two goals and 15 points in 46 games. He’ll look to chase his career-high of 16 points, set last year, if he’s able to step back into a gameday role.
Other notes from around the league:
- The newest Vegas Golden Knight, Tomas Hertl, is expected to resume skating by the end of this week or early next week, sources shared with SinBin.Vegas (Twitter link). When asked about Hertl after Tuesday’s practice, head coach Bruce Cassidy said, “Our medical team has a timeline. I’m not gonna give it to you. I don’t want to say out of sight of mind… but when he gets here it’ll be a luxury.” Hertl has been facing loose cartilage in his left knee that required surgery in February. He’s scored 15 goals and 34 points in 48 games with the San Jose Sharks this season and could be poised to make a huge impact on the Vegas roster, as he’s set to play outside of San Jose for the first time in his 11-year career.
- The Vegas Golden Knights were without top defenseman Alex Pietrangelo at Tuesday’s practice. The veteran defender is now expected to miss the team’s Tuesday game with illness, per Cassidy (Twitter link). Pietrangelo has four goals and 32 points in 62 games this season, and plays in a commanding 23-minutes a night. That leaves big shoes to be filled, with newcomer Noah Hanifin and seventh-man Zach Whitecloud poised to get more ice time as a result.
Dallas Stars Sign Luke Krys
4:04 PM: The Stars have made the signing official via a team announcement. It will be a two-year entry-level agreement for Krys in Dallas, and the contract will begin in the 2024-25 NHL season.
3:47 PM: The Dallas Stars are reportedly set to sign Providence College defenseman Luke Krys to an entry-level contract, per NHL.com’s Mark Divver (Twitter Link). The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro noted that this signing isn’t yet official, though he’s also heard it is likely. Krys just wrapped up his graduate year of college, and his first year with Providence, after previously playing for Brown University. He signs with Dallas as an undrafted free agent. His father, Mark, played 284 AHL games in the 1990s and his brother, Chad, was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2016’s second round.
Krys’ collegiate campaign was impacted by the 2020-21 COVID-19 season that saw the defenseman moving to the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks for five games with Brown not icing a team. He returned in the following season, managing a combined 55 points in 127 NCAA games. He also added 129 penalty minutes and a combined -53. Those stats include his performances with Providence this season, which saw Krys score a career-high six goals and 17 points across 35 games.
Krys is a stout, right-shot defenseman who makes effective plays in the dirty areas of the ice – showing a knack for playing physical and boasting strong passing that makes him effective in tight spaces. He never strays too far out of position, though he’s certainly aggressive. Krys will need to continue improving on his ability to make the right choice his first choice and learn when and how to seamlessly join the offensive rush. But even still, he’s a gritty and impactful defender on his own side of the red line. That fact alone will make him a welcome addition to the Stars’ depth chart.
Nill: Stars Would Like To Re-Sign Tanev
The 34-year-old rarely puts up points but is known as one of the better defensive blueliners in the NHL. Accordingly, he is well-positioned to earn a raise on his current $4.5MM price tag in the summer, one that will be tricky for the Stars to afford within their salary structure.
Stars Sign Tristan Bertucci To Entry-Level Deal
The Stars signed left-shot defenseman Tristan Bertucci to his entry-level contract on Friday, per a team announcement. The three-year deal with a cap hit of $878K will begin in 2024-25, making him an RFA upon expiry in 2027 – which could push to 2028 if he plays less than 10 NHL games next season and activates an entry-level slide. PuckPedia has the full breakdown of the deal, which is as follows:
2024-25/2025-26: $775K base salary, $95K signing bonus, $80K games played bonus, $82.5K minors salary
2026-27: $800K base salary, $95K signing bonus, $55K games played bonus, $82.5K minors salary.
The initial $95K signing bonus will get paid out next season regardless of whether he plays more than 10 NHL games or not, which, in the case of a slide, would lower the cap hit of his deal slightly when it does go into effect in 2025-26.
Bertucci, 18, was a late second-round pick of the Stars in last year’s draft. Taken off the board at 61st overall, the Ontario native’s production has stagnated in his post-draft season, logging 41 points and a +10 rating in 56 games with the OHL’s Flint Firebirds this season compared to 50 points and a +12 rating in 63 games last season. He’s still a solid two-way presence with good shutdown and transition potential at the NHL level, though, and doesn’t have much support on a Firebirds team that’s been relegated to mediocrity this year with a 29-30-4 record.
Standing at 6-foot-2 and 180 lbs, Bertucci has to fill out his frame a little bit more before he’s ready for NHL action. He’ll likely return to the Firebirds next year for his fourth season of major junior play, sliding the beginning of his ELC to 2025, and will join the AHL’s Texas Stars at the end of next season. He’ll take a year or two of development there as well before hopefully cracking the NHL roster in 2026 or 2027.
Bertucci’s deal will not count against the 50-contract maximum next season if he’s not in the NHL. The Stars had until June 1, 2025, to sign him to an ELC before his draft rights lapsed.
Afternoon Notes: Bennett, Rodrigues, Filppula, Seguin, Penguins
The Florida Panthers’ forward depth will take a major hit on Thursday, as both Sam Bennett (undisclosed) and Evan Rodrigues (lower-body) are set to miss the bout with the Carolina Hurricanes. This will be Rodrigues’ second straight absence after being forced out of the team’s Saturday game early – needing help off the ice after blocking a shot off of his left ankle. Bennett was able to play in the team’s last game, scoring one goal on four shots and playing in his usual role.
The absence of Rodrigues and Bennett leaves a notable hole on Florida’s third line. The pair has been incredibly effective this season, with Rodrigues boasting 10 goals and 36 points in 65 games and Bennett touting 16 goals and 32 points in 54 games. They play in a modest role, averaging around 15 and 16 minutes of ice time respectively, but their ability to produce down the lineup has proven to be crucial to Florida’s success.
Jonah Gadjovich will return to the lineup in their absence, marking his first game since March 5th. The 25-year-old winger is in his third season as an NHL depth forward, scoring two goals and four points in 33 appearances this season. The pair of injuries will also give way to newcomer Kyle Okposo, who is filling Rodrigues’ spot as the third-line right-wing. Okposo failed to record a point in the 10 minutes he played in his Panthers debut, though he did have 12 goals and 22 points in 61 games with the Buffalo Sabres prior to being traded. The 17-year veteran Okposo brings fantastic experience to the Panthers lineup that will likely earn him a spot even after Bennett and Rodrigues return.
Other notes from around the league:
- NHL veteran Valtteri Filppula’s time with Switzerland’s Genève-Servette HC is set to come to an end, with the team sharing that the two sides will part ways at the end of the season. Filppula, now 39, has been in Switzerland’s top league since he left the NHL in 2021-22. He’s since totaled 131 points in 145 games with Genève-Servette. Filppula previously played in 1,056 NHL games across a 16-year career with the Detroit Red Wings, Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers, and New York Islanders.
- Tyler Seguin is progressing back from a lower-body injury that’s held him out since February 22nd, per Brien Rea of Bally Sports SouthWest. Rea shares that head coach Pete DeBoer said “everything is on the table” as the Stars approach the end of their five-game homestand. Seguin has stayed effective despite injuries and age, scoring 20 goals and 45 points in 58 games this season. It’s his third consecutive season and 10th overall where he’s reached the 20-goal mark – an impressive feat for the 14-year pro.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins are facing troubles straight out of a 1990s sitcom, as a shipment of Jaromir Jagr bobbleheads meant to commemorate the winger’s jersey retirement was stolen in transit. The investigation is currently ongoing, and fans of tonight’s game will receive a voucher for the bobbleheads that can be redeemed at a later date. Penguins President of Business Operation Kevin Acklin told NHL.com, “We were shocked to be a victim of cargo theft… While this unfortunate incident adds to the legend of Jaromir Jagr, who will be in attendance as our guest at tonight’s game, we look forward to resolving this theft and delivering the prized Jagr bobbleheads to their rightful homes, with our fans.”
Afternoon Notes: Global Series, Athanasiou, Foote
The NHL has announced their Global Series matchups for the 2024-25 season, with the Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils slated to face off in Prague, Czechia on October 4th and 5th, and the Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars set to play in Tampere, Finland on November 1st and 2nd.
The games will mark homecomings for players on all sides, headlined by Florida star Aleksander Barkov’s return to his hometown of Tampere. He grew up through Tampere’s youth hockey program, playing for the Tappara Tampere (often shortened to just ’Tappara’) at every level from U16 in to his professional debut in the Liiga. Barkov’s father, who shares the same name, ranks fifth in Tappara’s all-time scoring, with 416 points in 517 Liiga games. He also coached for the program, though he never oversaw his son. Top Stars scorer Roope Hintz was born in Nokia, Finland – just outside of Tampere. He and Barkov are two of the eight Finns between the Florida and Dallas lineups. When asked about visiting home, Barkov said, “It’s more than a dream come true because you don’t even dream about this… This will probably be one of the best days in my life.”
Meanwhile, New Jersey Devils winger Ondrej Palat will be able to stay at his house in Prague while the team visits. Palat grew up playing in Vitkovice, just a few hours outside of Prague, and told NHL.com that he’s excited to play in front of friends and family. Fellow Devil Tomas Nosek grew up much closer to Prague, in Pardubice. The pair are the only two Czechs on New Jersey’s roster, with recent recall Lukas Rousek being the only one on Buffalo’s roster. However, the two teams do have plenty of other talents from Central Europe – including Germans Nico Daws (NJD) and John-Jason Peterka (BUF), Swiss skaters Nico Hischier, Jonas Siegenthaler, and Timo Meier (NJD), and Slovakia’s Simon Nemec.
Other notes from around the league:
- Andreas Athanasiou is expected to make his return from injury on Tuesday night, when the Chicago Blackhawks take on the Anaheim Ducks. Athanasiou has been out for the last four months with a groin injury, playing just 11 games this season. He’ll re-enter the lineup still searching for his first goal on the year, recording just four assists prior to his injury. Athanasiou has proven to be an effective winger in Chicago, scoring 20 goals and 40 points in 81 games last season.
- The New Jersey Devils have formally activated Nolan Foote off of non-roster injured reserve. He’s been working his way back from an upper-body injury suffered during the pre-season that’s since delayed his season debut. Foote was primarily a minor-leaguer last season, scoring 20 goals and 37 points in 55 games with the AHL’s Utica Comets. He’s also managed five goals and seven points in 19 career NHL games, dating back to his debut in 2020-21.