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Dallas Stars Daily Links: Another Chance to Win

Posted on by Tyler Mair

After backstopping the Dallas Stars to the Stanley Cup Final, Anton Khudobin likely had his choice of the litter when it came to potential Free Agency destinations.

However, he ultimately returned to Dallas to sign a three-year, $10M contract. There were many reasons behind this decision, but one of the most important was the chance to get another crack at winning the Stanley Cup:

“I told [my agent] that if we’re not going to seal the deal in Dallas, he knew where I want to go,” Khudobin said. “I didn’t want to go just for money or for years, I wanted a team that had a chance to win. That’s it. This signing here means we still have a chance.”

As the Stars know quite well, having a second starter-caliber goaltender is invaluable. General Manager Jim Nill believes it’ll be even more important than usual heading into the 2020-21 season:

“As everyone knows, we have very tough travel being down here in Dallas. On top of that, depending on when the seasons starts next year, it’s going to be a very condensed schedule. There will be a lot of back-to-backs… It’s going to be a race right to the finish and it’s going to be important to have two goalies who can step in at any time and get you a win.”

You can read more from Mike Heika here.

Stars Stories

Sean Shapiro delves into the Mark Pysyk signing and why it could payoff for Dallas:

ICYMI, the Stars also signed Radek Faksa to a five-year deal:

They also inked a deal with RFA Joel L’Esperance for two years:

One player that won’t be returning, however, is Mattias Janmark, who signed a one-year, $2.25M deal with the Chicago Blackhawks:

Naturally, we all wish him the best:

Around the League

Speaking of former Stars, Valeri Nichushkin has turned his bounce-back season into a new deal with the Colorado Avalanche:

The Avalanche also made a big splash on the trade front, acquiring Brandon Saad from the Chicago Blackhawks:

That trade has forced the Blackhawks’ core players to accept a reality they probably should have already known: Chicago is in a rebuild.

One of the reasons Colorado went after Saad was because they knew they wouldn’t land Taylor Hall. That in turn is because Hall eventually decided to sign a one year, $8M deal with… the Buffalo Sabres?

Some possible context for what was otherwise a surprising decision to say the least:

And here’s some shade from our sister site:

As far as the other top UFA target goes, there were rumors last night that Alex Pietrangelo was going to sign with the Vegas Golden Knights, but nothing is certain yet:

One thing is for certain: Pietrangelo won’t be returning to the St. Louis Blues, who have replaced him with Torey Krug:

Talking Points