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Bonus Laden Contracts Trending Upwards Before CBA Expiration

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TSN’s Travis Yost analyzed the growing number of bonus-laden contracts in the NHL and directly correlated it to the upcoming expiration of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL and NHLPA. There are several issues at hand once the CBA expires after the 2025-26 NHL season but many players are beginning to protect themselves with higher bonuses and lower salaries.

The protective nature of signing bonuses in a potential lockout is straightforward. Signing bonuses are due in the summer months leading up to the start of the season meaning a lockout wouldn’t prohibit a player from receiving it. Players’ salaries are typically frozen during a lockout which has been a misfortune used to strongarm the NHLPA during the 2004-05 and 2012-13 lockouts.

Yost shows in the article that the percentage of contracts containing signing bonuses has been climbing as approximately 80% of deals signed from January 2024 included signing bonuses for the 2026-27 NHL season. The players are putting themselves in a much better bargaining position once the current CBA ends as ownership groups won’t be able to hold their frozen salaries over their heads.

There are 38 players in the league with signing bonuses totaling $3MM or more for the 2026-27 season and another 22 players with $1MM or more. Rudimentary math works it out to around 8% of players carrying signing bonuses in their deals assuming that all 32 teams keep a 23-man roster for the 2026-27 season.

That number will surely expand over the next two summers as the likes of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Mikko Rantanen, and Artemi Panarin among others will see their current contracts conclude and will certainly be looking to protect themselves in case of a lockout. We are still about a year and a half away from action picking up on the new CBA between the NHL and NHLPA but the players are already taking the necessary steps to protect their financial security.

Canucks Hire Justin Pogge As AHL Goalie Coach

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The Abbotsford Canucks will only have gone five days without a goaltending coach as the team has moved quickly to fill the void left by Marko Torenius’ promotion to the Vancouver Canucks. Special assistant to the general manager with Vancouver and general manager of Abbotsford, Ryan Johnson, announced the team hired longtime veteran goaltender Justin Pogge as the organization’s next goaltending coach.

Pogge originally found his way to the American Hockey League in the 2006-07 season after a four-year career in the Western Hockey League split between the Prince George Cougars and Calgary Hitmen. He was drafted 90th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2004 NHL Draft before finishing his WHL tenure with a 79-49-12 record with a .919 save percentage. Pogge also helped Team Canada win the 2006 IIHF World Junior Championships on the heels of a .952 SV% and six wins which certainly elevated his prospect pedigree heading into his professional career.

His days as a decent goaltending prospect would summarily end there as Pogge only managed seven NHL appearances over the next six years before continuing his career overseas. He fared as a much better goaltender in the AHL albeit off a larger sample size. The Fort McMurray, Alberta native owned a record 120-94-24 record in the AHL and a career .902 SV% and 2.81 GAA with the Toronto, Anaheim Ducks, Carolina Hurricanes, and Phoenix Coyotes organizations.

Pogge would bounce around Italy, Sweden, Russia, and Germany over the next several years before retiring as a member of the DEL’s Grizzlys Wolfsburg in 2022-23. The longtime netminder didn’t stay away from the game long after his retirement as he immediately began working as a goaltending consultant for the Columbus Blue Jackets in addition to Team Canada’s World Championship and Hlinka Gretzky Cup teams.

He will now have the opportunity to have quite the impact at the highest level of the Canucks’ minor league system as the return date of starting netminder Thatcher Demko remains up in the air. He will likely work closest with Nikita Tolopino this season as the only true goaltending prospect from Vancouver’s pipeline that has graduated to the AHL.

Andrew Poturalski Ready For Opportunity With Sharks

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Forward Andrew Poturalski recently expressed his hunger to crack the roster of the San Jose Sharks in a recent interview with Bill Hoppe of Buffalo Hockey. The longtime AHL veteran signed a two-year, two-way agreement with the Sharks organization this summer after spending the last two years as a part of the Seattle Kraken organization.

Poturalski, 30, is one of the best AHL players in recent memories to have not gotten a legitimate shot at the NHL level. Despite only managing two points in six career games from 2016-2023 the veteran forward still has the fire burning to make his dreams come true. The best opportunity of his career will likely come in San Jose as the team expects another rebuilding season despite graduating several top prospects to the league.

The Williamsville, NY had been a solid performer through the first six years of his career in the AHL as he put up 77 goals and 226 points through his first 299 regular season games split between the Charlotte Checkers and the San Diego Gulls. He excelled in the playoffs too highlighted by a 12-goal, 23-point performance for the Checkers in the 2019 Calder Cup Playoffs en route to the organization winning their first Calder Cup in team history.

His AHL career took off in a big way during the 2021-22 season as he was led by now head coach of the San Jose Sharks, Ryan Warsofsky, with the Chicago Wolves. Poturalski won his second straight John B. Sollenberger Trophy that year on the heels of a 28-goal, 101-point effort in 71 games. He and the Wolves continued their success into the 2022 Calder Cup Playoffs which saw him score eight goals and 23 points in 18 games and secure his second Calder Cup ring.

Warsofsky moved on to San Jose to become an assistant coach with the Sharks while Poturalski joined the Kraken to play for the Coachella Valley Firebirds in the AHL primarily. He scored 26 goals and 93 points in 98 games with the Firebirds over his two-year tenure with another five goals and 22 points in 29 playoff contests. He could not add to his team trophy collection as Coachella Valley was eliminated in the Calder Cup Final back-to-back years at the hands of the Hershey Bears.

Poturalski has finally rejoined Warsofsky after a two-year hiatus away. His desire for consistent minutes at the NHL level still may be out of reach even on a rebuilding San Jose team. The Sharks are in a position to give meaningful minutes to high-end prospects in the team’s top-six this year pushing Poturalski to compete for a bottom-six role.

There still could be some openings on the Sharks roster out of training camp albeit in less-exciting roles. Barclay Goodrow and Luke Kunin are once again poised to average less than 15 minutes of ice time per night this season and Poturalski may have a legitimate chance to steal one of their spots on opening night if Warsofsky still has confidence in the soon-to-be 31-year-old forward. Poturalski won’t have any long-term value to San Jose but could put the team in a better position to win some nights in the upcoming season.

Predators Hire Matt Donovan In AHL Assistant Role

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The Predators have hired former NHLer Matt Donovan as an assistant coach for their AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, per a press release from the team.

Donovan, 34, played parts of four seasons in the NHL, wrapping it up with a two-game stint in Nashville in 2018-19. Most of his career was spent in the AHL, where he suited up for the Admirals in 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2021-22.

The move confirms Donovan’s retirement from playing, but the left-shot defenseman was a capable offensive force up until the end. He spent last year on an AHL contract with the Chicago Wolves, serving as an alternate captain and leading their blue line in scoring with 39 assists and 43 points in 69 games. A 2008 fourth-round pick of the Islanders, where he played 67 of his 69 career NHL games, Donovan also spent a year in the Sabres organization and logged time overseas with Sweden’s Frölunda HC, HV71 and Germany’s Adler Mannheim.

Donovan’s hiring continues a distinct trend in Nashville, where former players are hired for coaching roles. The team also brought in Darby Hendrickson, who logged over 500 NHL appearances over a 10-year career, as an assistant for the NHL bench earlier this summer. In 2023, they hired former Panthers captain Derek MacKenzie as an NHL assistant with over 600 games of NHL experience.

CHL Notes: Ritchie, Mrsic, Gardiner, Ekberg

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A blockbuster trade in the Western Hockey League got across the finish line today involving a pair of prospects taken in this year’s draft. The Medicine Hat Tigers have picked up Wild second-rounder Ryder Ritchie from the Prince Albert Raiders, per a team announcement, sending Blues fourth-rounder Tomas Mrsic and draft picks the other way.

Ritchie, who just turned 18 earlier this month, was a consensus late first/early second-round prospect but fell to Minnesota at No. 45. The 6’1″, 176-lb right-winger was the WHL’s Rookie of the Year in 2022-23 and continued to perform well last season without much of a supporting cast in Prince Albert. Injuries limited him to 47 games on the season, but he still showed out with 19 goals, 25 assists, 44 points, and a -1 rating. He closed out the campaign on a high note, scoring four goals and four assists in seven games while winning gold with Canada at the U18 World Juniors. In Medicine Hat, the Calgary native will likely star on a first line centered by 2024 fourth-overall pick Cayden Lindstrom and projected 2026 first-overall selection Gavin McKenna at left wing.

Mrsic isn’t an afterthought in this deal, though. The 6’0″, 170-lb sniper can play all three forward positions and went within his expected range to the Blues at No. 113. He fell just short of a point per game on a strong Tigers team last season, posting 23 goals and 39 assists for 62 points in 63 games – fourth on the team. Both players are likely due for another pair of seasons in juniors before turning pro with their respective NHL clubs in 2026-27.

Some other notable Canadian Hockey League moves today:

  • The Ontario Hockey League’s Barrie Colts continue to be a popular destination for Stars prospects this summer, today acquiring center Brad Gardiner from the Ottawa 67’s for a quartet of draft picks. Gardiner, 19, was a Dallas third-rounder in 2023 and had 49 points in 67 games with the 67’s last season. Barrie selected 2024 Stars first-round pick Emil Hemming in this year’s CHL Import Draft and got him inked to an agreement last month, bringing him over to juniors from his native Finland. A strong season with the Colts will be crucial for Gardiner, who risks becoming a free agent if the Stars don’t sign him by June 1, 2025.
  • The 67’s will replace some of Gardiner’s roles with top 2025 draft-eligible prospect Filip Ekberg, who the team confirmed today has signed a Scholarship and Development Agreement. Ekberg, 17, is a likely late first-round selection in next year’s draft after posting 29 points in 33 games last year in his native Sweden with Almtuna IS’ U20 club. The left winger stands at 5’10” and 168 lbs and won a bronze medal with Sweden at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup earlier this month.

Metropolitan Notes: Fast, Dube, Keller, Martin

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The Hurricanes still don’t know whether winger Jesper Fast will be available come opening night, says Cory Lavalette of The Athletic. Fast surprisingly missed all of Carolina’s playoff games after a mysterious late-season neck injury left him in a brace that he was still sporting during exit meetings.

Lavalette points out that the 32-year-old is at least out of the brace, which we know thanks to pictures he was spotted during teammate Sebastian Aho’s wedding over the summer. But both the player and team were vague about the nature of his injury at the end of the postseason, and there haven’t been any reports about what specific type of neck injury Fast sustained since.

The Swede had just six goals and 19 points in 73 games last year, his worst offensive output since his rookie campaign with the Rangers 10 years ago. His 12:36 average time on ice was also the lowest since then. He’s still a valuable penalty killer with great skating speed, though, and has one season left on his contract at a $2.4MM cap hit.

If he’s not cleared to play by October, it’ll be a significant boon to the chances of prospects Jackson Blake, Bradly Nadeau and Felix Unger Sörum cracking the opening night roster in his stead.

Other updates from the Metropolitan Division:

  • Capitals prospects Pierrick Dube and Antoine Keller are both getting the call to the French national team for this month’s 2026 Winter Olympics qualifiers, Sammi Silber of The Hockey News relays. Dube, a 23-year-old forward from Lyon, was an undrafted free agent signing by the Caps last summer and made his NHL debut in his first year under contract, posting a +1 rating in three games in a fourth-line role. He had 28 goals and 48 points in 66 games with their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, who won their second straight Calder Cup in 2024. He last represented France at a major international tournament at the 2020 Division 1B World Juniors. The 19-year-old Keller, meanwhile, will likely serve as France’s third-string goalie. The 2023 seventh-round pick will make his professional debut next season with Switzerland’s Lausanne HC after spending last year in junior hockey with the QMJHL’s Acadie-Bathurst Titan. France must win a round-robin tournament with Latvia, Slovenia and Ukraine to gain a spot in the next Olympics.
  • Longtime Islanders enforcer Matt Martin remains an unrestricted free agent but is fully intent on returning to the club, he tells Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News. “I’m focused on playing here, first and foremost,” he said. “We’ll see how things unfold.” A reunion would be a reversal from earlier this month when general manager Lou Lamoriello told Ethan Sears of the New York Post that he was unlikely to re-sign Martin or frequent linemate Cal Clutterbuck. Martin has played 823 of his 955 career NHL games in an Isles uniform, racking up 155 points and 985 PIMs. He was a fifth-round pick of the club back in 2008.

Blackhawks Likely To Start Kevin Korchinski In AHL

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The Blackhawks are leaning toward assigning sophomore defenseman Kevin Korchinski to the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs to begin the 2024-25 season, Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times reports Monday. Korchinski, the seventh overall pick of the 2022 draft, played 76 games for Chicago last season in a top-four role.

Chicago has reportedly been mulling whether to demote the defenseman for weeks now. The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus mentioned the possibility late last month. It would provide more solid reasoning for signing veterans T.J. Brodie and Alec Martinez during the July 1 free-agent frenzy.

At the time, some criticized signing both as compared to just one as taking away a roster spot from the rebuilding organization’s glut of young defenders, namely Wyatt Kaiser and Isaak Phillips. With Korchinski starting in the AHL, it’s likely both Kaiser and Phillips will make the opening night roster, Pope opines, although Louis Crevier and Ethan Del Mastro will also be in the mix for spots.

Last season was a struggle for Korchinski, a two-time Western Hockey League All-Star with the Seattle Thunderbirds. He made the jump to the NHL directly out of juniors, a decision that overtaxed the 20-year-old without much of a supporting cast on the Blackhawks’ back end.

Korchinski showed flashes offensively, posting five goals and 10 assists for 15 points in 76 games, but his -39 rating was the worst among Chicago defenders, and his possession quality numbers at even strength were in the tank. With injuries persisting all last season on defense, the Hawks could never comfortably send Korchinski down to the minors for a breather. It’s clear their signings of Brodie and Martinez, both of whom can still shoulder top-four minutes on a bottom-feeder, were made with flexibility regarding Korchinski’s development in mind.

Korchinski was an electric offensive presence with the Thunderbirds in his post-draft season. The Saskatchewan native was among the top five WHL defenders in scoring with 11 goals and 73 points in just 54 games, logging a +50 rating to boot. He added 14 points in 19 playoff games as Seattle took home the WHL championship, and he also recorded four points in seven games for Canada in his first taste of international hockey at the 2023 World Juniors.

It’s likely too early in pre-camp preparations to strike Korchinski from opening-night roster consideration entirely. But starting Kaiser and Phillips in third-pairing roles with fringe top-four usage, likely their ceiling on a contending team anyway, is more advantageous to the club’s long-term plan while allowing Korchinski to gain more confidence at the professional level.

Snapshots: Pipeline Rankings, Strome, Gaunce

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The big news over the past few days was top goalie prospect Yaroslav Askarov heading to the Sharks in a blockbuster trade and immediately signing a two-year, $4MM extension. The move has massively shifted the prospect pool of both teams, but neither find themselves in the basement of Corey Pronman’s ranking of each team’s current crop of under-23 players for The Athletic.

Predictably, his initial installment of the bottom eight is filled with recent championship contenders. The Lightning are beginning to feel the effects of trading away nearly all of their impact futures for win-now pieces in pursuit of their three straight Stanley Cup Final appearances and back-to-back championships earlier this decade, checking in at No. 32. Their biggest fish is a new addition – center Conor Geekie, acquired from the Utah Hockey Club in the Mikhail Sergachev trade at the draft. But he’s the only player in their system that Pronman feels confident will be a top-nine fixture, although he also feels confident in 2023 second-rounder Ethan Gauthier, 2021 seventh-rounder Niko Huuhtanen, and 2022 first-rounder Isaac Howard to at least be everyday NHLers. But after that, especially on defense, it’s slim pickings for Tampa as they’re still trying to extend their championship window in the post-Steven Stamkos era.

Rounding out the bottom are many other teams who have reached the Cup Final in the past few seasons, namely the Avalanche (No. 31), Oilers (No. 30), and the Golden Knights (No. 27). But some other clubs without any conference championships to claim since the pandemic, such as the Bruins (No. 29), Canucks (No. 28), Islanders (No. 25), and Penguins (No. 26), find themselves with some soul-searching to do without a ton of help coming from inside the house.

Other tidbits from around the NHL to start the week:

  • Players are slowly beginning to roll into their team’s home cities ahead of training camps next month. Capitals forward Dylan Strome is one of them, taking part in informal skates after an offseason of change in Washington (per Sammi Silber of The Hockey News). The 27-year-old enters camp intending to maintain his role as Washington’s first-line center, a job he’ll likely face a challenge for from trade acquisition Pierre-Luc Dubois. Strome has flourished in a top-six role since arriving with the Caps two years ago, setting career-highs last season with 27 goals and 67 points.
  • Defenseman Cameron Gaunce is heading overseas for the first time after a 14-year pro career split between the NHL and the AHL. He signed a one-year contract today with Hungary’s Fehérvár AV19, per a team announcement. The 34-year-old was a second-round pick of the Avalanche all the way back in 2008 and has 37 NHL games under his belt with four different teams, last appearing with the Lightning in 2019-20. The vast majority of his playing time has come in the AHL, where he racked up 51 goals, 255 assists and 306 points in 823 games. The strong two-way left-shot defender spent last season on an AHL contract with the Toronto Marlies after waiting until December to sign, posting eight points in 40 appearances. He now heads to AV19, the lone Hungarian club in Austria’s ICE Hockey League.

Evening Notes: Jagr, Baertschi, Necas

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Hockey legend Jaromir Jagr has hit a lull in his off-season prep, announcing in an Instagram post that he’s suffered a torn hamstring. He’ll now be out for three-to-six weeks, adding that the injury was likely a result of overtraining, which team physio Pavel Kolar warned him against. In a quote translated from Czech by Derek O’Brien of The Hockey News, Jagr said, “When I talked to the physiotherapist Pavel Kolář about the fact that I would like to properly train, he warned me not to do anything that my body is not used to. Of course, I didn’t listen to him… I went for a run. Not the sprints I used to do uphill, but normally straight. But I put weights on my ankles and tore my hamstring.”

Jagr, a partial owner of Kladno, will now miss the team’s remaining four pre-season games and could be out for the start of the Czech Extraliga season on Sep. 18. Kladno has a game roughly every other day from there on out, eating into Jagr’s goal to play in every Extraliga game this season. The inevitable Hall-of-Fame winger has stayed productive into his 50s, scoring 18 points across his last 31 Extraliga games, dating back to 2022. He’s never shown any reason for doubt, and even through a hamstring injury, he hopes to continue a productive playing career in Kladno as soon as possible.

Other quick notes from around the NHL:

  • Former Vancouver Canucks winger Sven Baertschi has joined the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks as an assistant coach, shares Ryan Pike of Flames Nation. Baertschi spent two years with the Winterhawks in 2010 and 2011, ultimately scoring a dazzling 240 points in 156 games with the club. That was enough to motivate the Calgary Flames to select Baertschi with the 13th overall selection in the 2011 NHL Draft, though he never managed to live up to that precedent. His career year came with Vancouver in 2016-17, when he posted 18 goals and 35 points in 68 games. Baertschi finished his NHL career with 138 points in 292 games, playing in parts of 10 seasons. That’s a hockey career to be proud of – meager scoring or not – and Baertschi will now look to carry his experience back to the juniors team that helmed his early career.
  • Plenty of teams expressed interest in former top trade piece and recent Hurricanes re-signee Martin Necas, shares Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in the latest written 32 Thoughts. Among the interested parties were the Winnipeg Jets and Columbus Blue Jackets, though Necas was ultimately swayed to stay in Carolina thanks to the support of his teammates off the ice. Necas will now look to make the most of his two-year contract after posting 71 and 53 points in the last two seasons, respectively. That’s strong production, and Necas should earn an impressive contract when he becomes an unrestricted free agent, pending any collapse over the next two years.

Summer Synopsis: Dallas Stars

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The Dallas Stars didn’t have much to worry about this summer. They went to the Western Conference Finals last season, and while they were trumped by the Oilers in six games, all signs point towards Dallas only improving more as young stars like Wyatt Johnston, Logan Stankoven, and Thomas Harley get another summer of training under their belt. That’s permitted a quiet off-season, though the Stars were still clearly intentional with every step they took – leading to notable additions through the draft, free agency, and re-signings. That should set Dallas up for yet another year of full-season success – and potentially a last hoorah, with 11 pending free agents next summer, including long-time star Jamie Benn and starting goaltender Jake Oettinger.

Draft

1-29: F Emil Hemming, TPS (Finland)
5-158: D Niilopekka Muhonen, KalPa (Finland)
7-222: F William Samuelsson, Södertälje SK (Sweden)

Dallas’ quiet summer kicked off with a quiet draft. They made just three selections, including a return to the first round after no day-one action last year. They made the most of their top pick, reeling in impressive power forward Emil Hemming. Hemming graduated to TPS’ Liiga roster this season, playing in their first 40 games and scoring the first 11 points of his professional career. He looked confident while doing so, doing well to match pro-level physicality and pace and still finding space to unleash a booming shot. A quiet World Juniors – two points in seven games – kept Hemming low on many scouting lists, but he made up for it with four goals and six points in five games at the World U-18 Challenge. He showed that his heft, positioning, and shooting were clearly above many peers, but he needs to improve his ability to create plays for himself before he’s ready for a starring role.

Still, it’s hard to doubt Hemming’s upside if the smart-drafting Stars were willing to bet on him. The same can be said for Muhonen and Samuelsson, who both sat outside the public view thanks to low-scoring U20 seasons. That meant just 11 points in 27 games for Muhonen, though his daunting 6’4″, 194-lb frame gave him physicality and reach that was hard to beat. He’s smart on loose pucks and knows how to spark a breakout, though Muhonen will need to continue getting faster if he wants to match pro pace. Samuelsson was a bit more productive as his team’s top center, netting 44 points in 50 games while showing proficiency in every role. He’s well-built and not scared of physical play but is subject to getting a bit sucked into play. That holdup, and a lack of any breathtaking traits, pushed Samuelsson into the draft’s final few picks – but his hockey IQ and two-way ability will keep him a name to watch in Dallas’ system.

UFA Signings

F Cameron Hughes (one year, $775K)*
F Kole Lind (one year, $775K)*
F Matt Duchene (one year, $3MM)
F Sam Steel (one year, $1.2MM)
F Colin Blackwell (one year, $775K)
D Brendan Smith (one year, $1MM)
D Ilya Lyubushkin (three years, $9.75MM)
D Kyle Capobianco (two year, $1.6MM)*
D Nils Lundkvist (one year, $1.2MM)
D Alexander Petrovic (two years, $775K)*
D Matt Dumba (two years, $7.5MM)
G Casey DeSmith (three years, $3MM)
G Magnus Hellberg (one year, $775K)*

* denotes two-way contract

Dallas was plenty busy during free agency, though their string of moves didn’t culminate in too much of an NHL impact. The re-signing of Matt Duchene headlines their moves, giving Dallas another year of their second-line center at a major discount. Duchene scored 25 goals and 65 points in 80 games last season but will now spend his age-34 season on the cheapest salary since his entry-level contract ended in 2012. That’s likely a show of Duchene’s confidence in the Stars’ lineup next season and an acknowledgment of how much he wants to play there. Duchene’s career has seen a resurgence since he returned from a 2021 injury – kicked off by a dazzling 46 goals and 86 points in 78 games with the Nashville Predators in 2021-22. He hasn’t reached that scoring since but has tallied two 20-goal seasons and continued to hold a strong second-line role. His discounted salary should lock him into that role again next year, though he’ll face more and more competition from starring youngsters like Wyatt Johnston and Mavrik Bourque.

Dallas’ other moves mostly served to overturn their blue line, bringing in players like Ilya Lyubushkin, Brendan Smith, and Matt Dumba to help replace Jani Hakanpaa and Christopher Tanev. The trio will join Nils Lundkvist, Alexander Petrovic, and Esa Lindell to help fill the numerous holes on Dallas’ blue line. The right side is entirely open, offering great opportunity for Dumba, Lundkvist, and Lyubushkin – though none of the three seem poised to match Heiskanen’s energy on the top pair. How Dallas’ newly-constructed blue-line clicks will underline what their Achilles’ heel is this season or how active they need to be on the trade market.

The remaining free agent signings will shuffle into their respective lineup roles – with DeSmith preparing for 20 to 30 games behind star starter Jake Oettinger, Sam Steel and Colin Blackwell holding up the fourth-line, and the list of two-way deals all seemingly set for the minors. Training camp can turn premature planning onto its head, though Dallas’ lineup seems fairly easy to project.

RFA Re-Signings

F Mathias Emilio Pettersen (one year, $775K)*
F Matej Blumel (one year, $775K)*
F Oskar Back (one year, $775K)*

The Stars’ management had to find a vacation somewhere, and their time off showed in their RFA signings, which stayed limited to the minor leagues. Matej Blumel stands as the most notable of the three after posting an impressive 31 goals and 62 points in 72 AHL games this season. He was the final piece of Texas’ red-hot top line, alongside AHL MVP Mavrik Bourque and NHL call-up Logan Stankoven. It was a promising follow-up to Blumel’s AHL rookie year last season when he managed 44 points in 58 games and earned the first six games of his NHL career. He isn’t often listed as one of Dallas’ top prospects, but he could be a dark horse for making the jump to the Dallas lineup if the team runs into injuries or struggles.

Emilio Pettersen is another notable re-signing after posting eight points in 12 games with the Texas Stars following a mid-season trade from the Calgary Wranglers. He continued that momentum into the postseason, netting five points in seven games and bringing his season totals up to 43 points in 73 games. That’s a promising step in Pettersen’s young career, and he’ll now be positioned to challenge Oskar Back as the Texas’ second-line center. Back managed 36 points in 59 games last season, continuing the modest AHL scoring he’s seen for the last three years. He and Pettersen face a golden opportunity to earn major minor-league ice time this season but don’t seem likely to jump off the page much more than that.

Departures

F Ty Dellandrea (traded to San Jose)
F Radek Faksa (traded to St. Louis)
F Max Ellis (unqualified, unrestricted free agent)
F Craig Smith (Chicago, one-year, $1MM)
F Fredrik Karlstrom (Islanders, one-year, $775K)*
F Scott Reedy (unrestricted free agent)
D Chris Tanev (traded to Toronto)
D Derrick Pouliot (Tampa Bay, one-year, $775K)*
D Gavin Bayreuther (signed with Lausanne, NL)
D Jani Hakanpaa (Toronto, two-years, $3MM)
G Cole Brady (unsigned, unrestricted free agent)
G Scott Wedgewood (two-years, $3MM)

Dallas traded a second-round pick and defense prospect Artem Grushnikov to the Calgary Flames for 38 games of Tanev but had to say goodbye when it became clear that the stud defensive-defenseman wouldn’t re-sign with the team. Where he’d go next became a bit of a saga, ending with Tanev’s rights being traded to Toronto for a future sixth-round pick. That kind of turnaround is never ideal, especially when the rental doesn’t end in a Stanley Cup win. But Dallas quickly reigned in control of their off-season, only parting with a handful of fringe-lineup pieces – and being the ones to make the call on trading Faksa and Dellandrea, allowing both to find better opportunities elsewhere. Their departures have opened a few menial holes in Dallas’ lineup, which could prove a good opportunity for some of Dallas’ many top prospects, though likely won’t result in much of a change to the 2024 roster. The same can be said about the string of depth defenders departing Dallas – Hakanpaa, Pouliot, and Bayreuther – who were easily replaced by new signees and top prospects. How Dallas chooses to deploy those prospects will be among the most important questions facing their next campaign, but the list of departures helps give Dallas plenty of options.

Salary Cap Outlook

The Dallas Stars have an impressive $6.244MM in open cap space entering late-August, but that number will soon be zapped up by the inevitable extension to RFA Thomas Harley. Harley is Dallas’ final RFA headed into the new season and should command nearly all of the Stars’ remaining budget. That could push Dallas into a tight cap squeeze when the season rolls around – but with full control over Harley’s negotiations, it’s unlikely that the Stars back themselves into too much of a corner.

Key Questions

Where Will the Prospects Fit In? It’s no secret that next year’s Stars lineup will prominently feature top prospects. Each of Wyatt Johnston, Logan Stankoven, and Thomas Harley should earn confident roles on Dallas’ top lines – but there’s plenty of talent pushing for top ice time behind them. Mavrik Bourque is the reigning AHL MVP after posting 26 goals and a league-leading 77 points in just 71 games. He formed an incredible tandem with Stankoven through the first half of the year and could be poised to reprise the role next season. Lian Bichsel also seems poised to push for NHL ice after serving as a top option on Rogle BK’s deep run into the SHL playoffs. Bichsel already has seven points and 16 games of AHL experience under his belt and could fast-track his climb into Dallas’ lineup with a hot return to North America. Even recent draftee Emil Hemming seems capable of making a late-season push. Hemming is expected to join the OHL’s Barrie Colts next season but isn’t limited by the NHL/CHL Agreement and could find his way into the pro heights after Barrie’s season. The trio of Bourque, Bichsel, and Hemming are just three of the numerous Stars prospects that look poised for a breakout next season, but they’ll have to break through a thick ceiling to work into a Dallas roster largely dedicated to veterans.

When Will Harley Sign? It may be a bit premature to count Harley on the Stars roster. After all, he’s still without a contract for next season – standing as Dallas’ last remaining RFA before the new year can really begin. There’s no question that Harley deserves a new deal. He broke out in a big way last season, netting 47 points through 79 games in what was the first full NHL season of his career. He was a proud member of the Dallas top-four, averaging over 21 minutes of ice tie through the regular season and nearly 24 minutes in the playoffs. It’s clear Dallas trusts him, but to what extent will his next deal indicate this? Will Harley lock himself to Dallas with a deal akin to Mattias Samuelsson and Kaiden Guhle, or will he ink a short-term bridge deal and look for a raise after a few more strong seasons? Those questions might not influence Dallas’ 2024-25 campaign too much – but they’ll have major implications as the Stars look to turn a dazzling prospect pool into a legacy.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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