Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill addressed his defense out of the gate as free agency opened, then turned his attention to the forward corps. After earlier re-signing Evgenii Dadonov, the top six seemed to be fairly set:
Joe Pavelski – Roope Hintz – Jason Robertson
Jamie Benn – Wyatt Johnston – Evgenii Dadonov
Mason Marchment – Tyler Seguin – [OPEN]
[OPEN] – Radek Faksa – [RFA Ty Dellandrea]
Key departures in the forward group were Fredrik Olofsson, traded earlier in the offseason to the Colorado Avalanche, Luke Glendening (a big part of the Stars’ penalty killing and faceoff dominance) who signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Max Domi, acquired at the trade deadline and anticipated to bring in a higher salary than Dallas was going to be able to afford with a thinner free agency group this summer.
So that left a top nine forward, a fourth line forward, and a 13th forward for either external signings or internal promotions.
The first signing Dallas made was Craig Smith, a 33-year-old forward that has a history of 12+ goal seasons for much of his career. With a one year, $1 million deal, Smith seems like an upgrade on the fourth line over Joel Kiviranta or Glendening but also doesn’t make so much that being the 13th forward is out of the question.
Then, the biggest news of the day occured: Dallas signed recently bought-out forward Matt Duchene after he became available with new general manager Barry Trotz wanting to re-shape his locker room. Duchene was arguably the top forward on the open market, and Dallas got him on a one-year deal at $3 million. It’s shorter term and lower salary cap hit than Domi is likely to get in the open market and appears to be a bit of an upgrade in terms of the consistency on offense that Duchene brings to the table comparatively.
I've always had a soft spot for Matt Duchene and his speed. He kind of fell off for a minute but Nashville switching him at wing was a BOON to his offense creation. Hate that this is coming at the expense of improving the defense (kind of makes it worse too), but this is huge. pic.twitter.com/xrjrjdqV17
— David Castillo (@DavidCastilloAC) July 1, 2023
The last forward signing came in the form of Sam Steel, recently of the Minnesota Wild, who put up 10 goals and 28 points last season. The 25-year-old was signed to a one-year contract at $850,000, which makes him easy to waive if one of the young players in the system challenges in training camp for a roster spot.
That may be the only critique some could have of Nill’s moves so far this offseason. The signing of three forwards seemingly blocks some of that youth movement the team has been touting as knocking on the door. But, on the positive side, these are all short-term commitments. That would line up with a win-now mode the Stars believe they’re in. However, nothing outside of Duchene is truly blocking anyone in terms of money.
The only thing that could block someone else is role on the team.
Ideally, you promote a guy like Logan Stankoven into a top six forward spot. With the depth Dallas has, outside of another move coming down the pipe here, there doesn’t seem to be a spot there on this roster. Everyone will point to Wyatt Johnston as the prototype for having young guys make the roster and have immediate success, but there are cautionary tales around the league of young guys that come in and struggle right away (see Wright, Shane in Seattle or Lafreniere, Alexis in New York). So that coupled with Nill’s penchant for patience met with that pattern explains some things.
The other thing that shouldn’t be discounted is the need for depth. The Stars were incredibly lucky on the injury front throughout last season, and you absolutely cannot expect that to be the case again.
As we await any other deals, it seems like the Stars forward group now looks something resembling:
Joe Pavelski – Roope Hintz – Jason Robertson
Jamie Benn – Wyatt Johnston – Evgenii Dadonov
Mason Marchment – Tyler Seguin – Matt Duchene
Sam Steel – Radek Faksa – Ty Dellandrea
Craig Smith