While the news is not official yet, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman has reported that Dallas Stars forward Tyler Seguin will miss the remainder of the 2025-26 season after knee surgery.
I reached out to confirm the news, but have not yet heard back. For now, we will call it a report, but there’s no reason to doubt Friedman here.
Seguin, who suffered a torn ACL against the New York Rangers on Dec. 2, underwent knee surgery and was expected to miss at least the rest of the regular season. Knowing the extended timeline of an ACL recovery, many believed Seguin would not be able to return for the playoffs either.
But, one thing I have learned watching and covering this Stars team is that Seguin believes he is never out of the fight. He has a long history of major injuries and surgeries, and has essentially blown away the expected recovery time with each opportunity. Last season, he returned just before the playoffs after undergoing hip surgery in December. And he was an impactful player, too.
When I spoke to Seguin shortly after the injury, he had that same twinkle in his eye and every bit of confidence he could beat the odds again and return to help this team chase a Stanley Cup. Unfortunately, this one was just too big to overcome.
For the team, it sucks. For the fans, it sucks. For the player, who has been decimated with injuries over the back half of his career, it really sucks. But, if you want to look at the bright side, and you really have to look closely with your spectacles on… This gives a 34-year-old the entire spring and summer to get himself in proper shape to hopefully avoid any further setbacks in 2026-27. And just to be clear, I mean injury prevention shape. The guy is already in ridiculous shape, no matter how many surgeries he has.
It also gives Dallas some cap room to improve its roster before the deadline. So while it is crappy news, it may have been the right decision all along.
Seguin was hanging out around the rink today, always a nice sight to see. Then, Friedman reported on 32 Thoughts that he had heard it would be tough for Seguin to return this season. Then, this news. Tough morning, even if it was expected to turn out this way.
What it means now is that Dallas, by placing Seguin on season-ending LTIR, can use his entire $9.85 million cap hit to improve its roster for a playoff run. The Stars were already given $3.82 million in relief (the average NHL salary), but would have had to “pay it back” if Seguin did return. That rule changed this year, no longer allowing teams to use LTIR to massively overhaul the roster at the deadline before adding the “injured” players back way over the cap for the playoffs.
I’m looking at you, Vegas.
Dallas now gets the remaining $6 million to work with ahead of the deadline and into the playoffs.
While it does give Dallas some cap space, it doesn’t help them acquire any players who have term left on their contracts. Seguin’s cap hit is right back on the books next season, and Jason Robertson is still due a hefty extension that will put them in a tight spot once again. It does give them a bit more flexibility, however, to chase after some UFA’s with bigger salaries and to require less retention to get those deals done.
It is going to be an interesting and chaotic deadline, I expect.
Shortly after this news, another insider, Pierre LeBrun, both confirmed the Seguin news and added that he is hearing Mikko Rantanen is going to miss more than the two weeks Stars coach Glen Gulutzan first laid out. Now, if you were in the room or really listen to what Gulutzan said on Feb. 24, this isn’t that surprising.
Two weeks, really, was just a starting point.
“It won’t be one or two games,” Gulutzan said. “It’ll be, let’s start at two weeks, and then see where it goes from there. So he’ll be out for some time.”
Rantanen out for more than two weeks, Roope Hintz still sick, Radek Faksa dealing with perhaps a head injury and day-to-day, and now Seguin out for the season… There’s a lot going on down here in Big D, and it will be really intriguing to see how general manager Jim Nill handles it all.
Do they make some “big” moves to really push right now? Do they push off next year’s cap issue until, well, next year and worry about right now, well, right now? Do they make a couple of smaller moves to add some depth and see what they can do?
To be honest, I am not sure. But I can’t wait to find out.
As a longtime fan of this team and now a reporter for the past five years, this guts me. I know it feels the same to anyone reading this. Seguin is not just an awesome hockey player to watch on the ice. He is, deep down, still a kid who brings insight, smiles, hijinx and practical jokes, and plenty of laughs to the rink.
He will be missed while he continues to rehab in preparation for next season. But hopefully, we can get him to come hang out on our show and shoot the breeze in the meantime.
