The Dallas Stars remained relatively quiet on the free agency side of things yesterday, having signed only Dan Ellis as the backup goaltender for the team.
While many fans might be disappointed in what was an extremely calm day compared to the fireworks displayed by Stars GM Jim Nill on July 4th, the should be relatively happy that the Stars did not over spend on a contract that will turn around and bite them three years down the road.
And there were plenty of those to be seen on the first day of free agency.
Among the big signings were Valtteri Filppula for 5 years and $25 million, Stephen Weiss for 5 years and $24.5 million, and Tyler Bozak for 5 years and $21 million.
Of course, the Bozak signing doesn’t seem all that bad in retrospect, after reports surfaced that he was looking for an 8 year, $48 million dollar contract.
Regardless, these three centers were all players that Dallas was looking at before their blockbuster trade. We even speculated correctly on their going rates as well. However, with the acquisition of Seguin, Peverly, and Horcoff, the Stars no longer had to overpay for a couple of #2 centers, and can move on with their plans.
In the meantime, there are still plenty of names available on the market today. It could be another quiet day on the Dallas Stars front, as Jim Nill said he was happy with the roster currently in place. However, he also did not completely rule out an additional signing if the price is right, and the opportunity is there. The Stars currently have about $4.7 million in cap space to play with (not taking into account Nichushkin’s yet-to-be-signed contract), so it is certainly possible.
Here’s a list of free agents that remain, according to CapGeek.
Right Wings: