Let's recap the Dallas Stars offseason

When we launched DLLS on Aug. 26, I first wondered what the heck we were going to talk about with Dallas Stars development camp in the rearview and training camp still nearly a month away.

Turns out, when you sit down with people like Owen Newkirk, Craig Ludwig and Sean Shapiro, the well of ideas never runs dry. So much so that I completely forgot to even talk about the offseason moves made by general manager Jim Nill.

I blame the nonsense from Luds, how am I supposed to focus with all that going on?

So let’s do it now. Here’s a recap of all that has happened with the Dallas Stars since Game 6 of the Western Conference Final.

Handful of key departing Stars

Every season brings turnover. That’s what happens when you are forced to abide by a salary cap. This summer has been no different for Dallas.

In terms of departures, the most notable are the now-retired legend, Joe Pavelski, backup goalie Scott Wedgewood, forwards Ty Dellandrea and Radek Faksa and veteran defenseman Chris Tanev, Jani Hakanpaa and Ryan Suter.

We talked about Pavelski a bit in our DLLS launch day article, but he is worth mentioning again. The 40-year-old played in 1,332 NHL games, recorded 1,068 points and added 143 points in 201 playoff contests. With Dallas, he recorded a career-high in 2021-22 and scored some of the biggest Stanley Cup Playoff goals.

He will be missed in a lot of ways. But as president and CEO Brad Alberts said in studio on Monday, the door in Dallas is always open for Joe.

Wedgewood was a tough departure for a lot of people, including fans and media. The Ontario native was the perfect fit for Jake Oettinger, put up solid numbers playing in the toughest scenarios and was one of the best personalities in hockey. He wanted and deserved a bit of a raise, Dallas had set a $1 million per year salary max and Wedgewood found his raise with the Nashville Predators instead.

The Stars hope that signing 33-year-old Casey DeSmith will have a similar success story. But will it be an immediate (within one week according to Oettinger) chemistry? Not so sure. DLLS had an exclusive interview with Wedgewood which we will write a story on very soon.

Dellandrea and Faksa won’t be missed as much on the ice. Both were solid bottom-six forwards, with each playing their entire career in Dallas (Faksa played nine seasons after being drafted in the first round (No.12) of the 2012 NHL Draft – Dellandrea was also a first-round pick (No.13) in 2018 and played 151 games over four seasons).

Faksa was acquired by the St. Louis Blues in a trade July 2 and Dellandrea was traded back in June to the San Jose Sharks.

It is always unfortunate when a first-round pick doesn’t pan out, but I wouldn’t say that is the case with either of these two. It was simply time for each to move on with a host of young prospects ready to take jobs at the NHL level.

Suter is an interesting one because of the variety of emotions from fans. Many believed the 39-year-old was too slow to make a difference within the Dallas system, and he certainly had his struggles. But the 19-year NHL veteran provided leadership to a group of youngsters and was a consistent even or plus rating in his three seasons with the Stars. Suter joined Faksa, signing a one-year contract with the Blues this summer.

Hakanpaa played three seasons with Dallas after beginning his career with the Anaheim Ducks and Carolina Hurricanes. The 6-foot-7 Finnish defenseman was a key penalty killer, brought a physicality that the Stars needed and provided defensive stability for Dallas’ more offensive-minded D-men.

Unfortunately, an injury held him out of the end of the 2023-24 regular season and all of the playoffs. Hakanpaa was expected to sign with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but remains unsigned as his knee injury has become a bit of a worry for the Leafs.

Finally, Chris Tanev.

It’s rare that a player who only dressed for 19 regular-season games is one of the most missed. But that is exactly where Tanev lies. The 34-year-old defenseman fit like a glove with Dallas when he was brought in at the trade deadline. He was a huge piece of the deep playoff run, blocking 73 shots in 19 games.

Despite Dallas very much wanting to bring him back, Tanev pulled a huge chunk of money and term from the Maple Leafs. Toronto traded for his rights before the draft and signed him to a six-year, $27 million contract that the Stars would never be able to pull off.

Tanev felt like the key to moving Miro Heiskanen back to his strong side. But it is not to be.

Some familiar names

Dallas also re-signed a few key pieces this summer. First up is Matt Duchene.

Duchene, along with Tanev, was a big question mark following the season. The 33-year-old came to Dallas last summer after surprisingly being bought out by Nashville. Duchene proved his value, racking up 25 goals and 65 points while helping glue together a very productive line with Mason Marchment and Tyler Seguin. He did not bring much production in the postseason, but did push Dallas into the Western Conference Final with a double overtime winner in Game 6 against his former team.

Duchene re-signed with Dallas one a one-year, $3 million contract.

Nils Lundkvist was not tendered a qualifying offer from the Stars, but was eventually signed to a one-year deal worth $1.25 million. We have talked extensively about Lundkvist over the past few seasons and dove into potentially his last chance with Dallas last week.

Dallas also brought back defenseman Alexander Petrovic, who replaced Lundkvist in the playoffs and was solid on the bottom pair. The 32-year-old right-handed blueliner signed a two-year, $1.5 million contract.

Restricted free agent defender Thomas Harley has not yet signed an extension with the Stars. It doesn’t feel like something to worry about, as Harley’s agent, Andy Scott, was admittedly busy negotiating a massive eight-year, $112 million extension for Leon Draisaitl with the Edmonton Oilers.

Dallas would like Harley to sign before training camp begins on Sept. 18, but as we saw with Jason Robertson a couple seasons ago, it is not the end of the world if this bleeds into the preseason.

Harley is a part of this team’s long-term plan, and is likely the best fit on the top pair with Heiskanen. But they need to make the money work, and it will be interesting to see who signs first; Harley with Dallas or Moritz Seider with the Detroit Red Wings.

Who are the new Dallas Stars?

We at DLLS are going to talk a ton about the new Stars and what each can bring this season. So for now, let’s just sum these up.

Nill took a numbers approach to replace the multiple losses on the blue line. Dallas lost Tanev, Suter and Hakanpaa and replaced them with Matt Dumba, Ilya Lyubushkin and Brendan Smith.

Dumba is known well by Stars fans for his big hit on Joe Pavelski in the 2023 playoffs, but it is that same physicality that also brought him to Dallas on a two-year, $7.5 million contract. Dumba loves to hit, can play special teams and has shown the ability to add some offense. He is also a righty, so he seems to be a nice fit.

Lyubushkin and Smith are depth additions. Both are defensively sound without much offensive production, both have been around the NHL for a bit and can provide a nice layer of depth.

We mentioned DeSmith above, and this is going to be a huge storyline this season. Can the veteran backup provide the on-ice performance and more importantly, the off-ice friendship, partnership and support system for Oettinger?

During his career, DeSmith has been known for getting the most out of the goalie in front of him. He did it with Thatcher Demko in Vancouver and with both Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry in Pittsburgh.

Like Wedgewood did in 2022, DeSmith is coming to Dallas with the right attitude:

“I think it all starts with a friendship, right?” DeSmith said after signing a three-year contract with Dallas in July. “You spend a lot of time together over the course of a year, two years, three years. I mean, I have no doubt that we’re going to be good friends. But that’s where it starts. For me. It’s just creating a good relationship off the ice. And obviously, it’s really easy to support him on the ice in whatever ways he sees fit.”

Up front, Dallas did not make a whole lot of additions. That has a lot to do with their young core and the emergence of Logan Stankoven and Mavrik Bourque.

The Stars did bring in some depth in 31-year-old Colin Blackwell. Blackwell is a defensive-minded forward with 235 career games on his resume. He is not going to bring a lot of offense but can play a role on the fourth line.

Tired? Me too.

Go watch some football and we’ll see you in studio on Monday!