On the final Monday before the free agency period is set to begin, the Dallas Stars made their first roster move. The team announced that they have acquired Ryan Hartman from the Philadelphia Flyers, in exchange for right winger Tyler Pitlick.
Hartman will turn 25 before the start of the season and is listed as a 6-foot, 181-pound right wing. He is slightly smaller than Pitlick (who is listed as 6-foot-2), but does bring with him more speed down the lineup.
Ryan Hartman spent the first half of the 2018-19 season with the Nashville Predators before being sent to the Philadelphia Flyers at the trade deadline in the Wayne Simmonds deal. The speedy 24-year-old has put together some solid seasons in his short five-year NHL career. Hartman became a consistent player in the league with the Chicago Blackhawks at the age of 22 in 2016-17, during a campaign that saw him post 19 goals and 12 assists for 31 points through 76 games. Hartman is also no stranger to player movement, as he has been traded now three times since the start of the 2017-18 season, seeing ice time with the Blackhawks, Predators, and Flyers in that span.
This past season Hartman played a total of 83 games (64 with Nashville, 19 with Philadelphia), and recorded 12 goals and 14 assists for 26 total points. He did most of his offensive damage with the Predators, as he only scored two goals and six points for the Flyers in 19 games played.
Pitlick (to flyers) is a defensive forward with a decent shot. Hartman (to stars) is more up-tempo. Both very close to average. This trade is the distillation of excitement. pic.twitter.com/vtMz0sSJ06
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) June 24, 2019
In this deal, the Stars are getting a quicker player than Pitlick, and a player who fits in with the system that head coach Jim Montgomery wants to implement going forward. It is also worth noting that Hartman is a restricted free agent this summer, meaning the Stars will likely have to extend a qualifying offer to their new addition. It is anyone’s guess what the offer will look like from the Stars, but Sean Shapiro did provide some insight on Twitter:
Hartman’s qualifying offer would have to be $918,750. He’s also arbitration eligible. @EvolvingWild has him projected to make $2.5 million on deal. Probably going to see something between those two numbers.
— Sean Shapiro (@seanshapiro) June 24, 2019
Pitlick played two full seasons for the Stars after being acquired via free agency from the Edmonton Oilers. Pitlick was primarily a third or fourth-line winger who saw time on the penalty kill for both Hitchcock and Montgomery. In his two years in Dallas, Pitlick dressed in 127 games and recorded 22 goals and 17 assists for 39 points.
Pitlick may already know about the trade, but it’s unclear whether Hartman has been informed. Maybe not the best idea to turn the cellphone off days before free agency begins:
Heading off the grid till next Saturday… if you need me… leave me a voicemail ✌🏽world pic.twitter.com/6Megt1CTdC
— Ryan Hartman (@RHartzy18) June 21, 2019