Recent Dallas Stars Shawn Horcoff and Scott Glennie are about to hit free agency, but many former Stars are about to begin looking for new teams too.
Many of your favorite, and not so favorite, players will be available.
Forwards
Key pieces from the Stars teams of the 2000’s are available tomorrow. The list here is full of nostalgia.
Former Dallas Stars captain Brenden Morrow is hitting the market after making it to game six of the Stanley Cup Finals. His time as a key player in the NHL is over. In reality it has probably been over for a long time. He has already stated that he would like to play for one more season. Some team with Cup aspirations will give him a roster spot to bring a veteran presence and leadership. He doesn’t seem like much of a fit with the Stars, but you can never rule out these type of reunions.
Derek Roy was supposed to come to Dallas and be a big time impact player. Instead, they traded for a player who was injured and never did much for the team. He has bounced around the last couple of seasons and will probably bounce around for the rest of his career.
Mike Ribeiro had a massive rebound season with the Nashville Predators after washing out with the Arizona Coyotes. Given his current legal troubles, he might have trouble finding employment.
Brad Richards just won his second Stanley Cup as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks. His production has been going down for the past few seasons, dropping to only 37 points in 76 games in 2015. He only made two million last year, and shouldn’t be expecting much of a raise.
The Stars signed Michael Ryder to play with Ribeiro. He was eventually traded to Montreal. At the time he was the Stars leading scorer. He was a healthy scratch often this past season with the New Jersey Devils. He’s looking at a rebound contract should he want to continue his career.
When Ryder was traded to the Canadiens, the return was Erik Cole. Cole got off to a good start this season. With the Stars fortunes not looking great he was dealt to the Detroit Red Wings. The Stars were able to select Roope Hintz with the pick they received. He’s a soon to be 37-year-old 20-goal scorer. If he wants work he’ll find it, but likely at a discounted price from his last contract.
Others worth noting: Manny Malhotra, Tomas Vincour, and Chris Mueller.
Defensemen
The names on this list might cause anxiety. Please be careful.
Dallas acquired Sergei Gonchar very quickly after Jim Nill took over the Stars. He was flipped to the Montreal Canadiens for Travis Moen earlier this season. The contract he signed with Dallas is now over and he’s heading back to free agency. At age 41 he apparently wants to play one more season in the NHL.
Former whipping boy Adam Pardy will be looking for a new contract. The 31 year old is now up to 48 career points in 315 games after two years in Winnipeg. He had a tumultuous run with the Stars before being traded to Buffalo in the Steve Ott deal.
Remember John Erskine? He didn’t play at all last season after undergoing neck fusion surgery. He is attempting to play next season, but no one knows for sure how that will work out. He was part of the trade in 2005 that saw the Stars acquire Janne Niinimaa who was eventually traded for Mike Ribeiro.
Goalies
The Stars signed Antti Niemi so chances are good they won’t have interest in these guys, but two recent Stars goalies are on the market. Anders Lindback, dealt to the Buffalo Sabres as part of the deal to acquire Jhonas Enroth at the trade deadline is back on the market. One of the men he replaced in Dallas is also available. Dan Ellis is free to sign with anyone too.
This group will likely be waiting a few days before finding new homes. The core of some really enjoyable, and also some really bad, Stars teams is out there as free agents. We’ll see where they end up soon.