DALLAS — In three of the last five seasons, the Dallas Stars have come tantalizingly close to tasting Lord Stanley's glory.
Alas, they've repeatedly come up just shy of their lofty, championship goals -- first with a loss in the Bubble Cup Final and twice in the last two seasons in the Western Conference Final.
So how do you go about retooling a team to get over that very last remaining hump? Well, from the fans' standpoint, you just sit back, kick your feet up and trust that Stars GM Jim Nill knows what he's doing.
I mean, the Stars have been pretty close to reaching that summit, right? Plus, you've gotta figure there's a reason the guy's the two-time reigning NHL GM of the Year.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Nill and his front office have been up to their usual tricks this offseason, executing a number of (many perhaps under the radar) transactions meant to retool the Stars for another deep playoff performance -- and, perhaps finally this time, a little more than even just that.
With NHL free agency having officially kicked off at 11 a.m. local time on Monday, let's take a look at all the moves the Stars have made this offseason, so far. (We'll update this article with more transactions as they're made.)
Goodbyes
- Just two days after the Stars lost the Western Conference Final to the Edmonton Oilers, beloved veteran forward Joe Pavelski, 39, confirmed fans' suspicions and officially announced his retirement from the NHL after 1,533 games and 18 NHL seasons.
- Ten days prior to the 2024 NHL Draft, the Stars announced that they'd cut bait with and traded their 2018 first-round selection, forward Ty Dellandrea, 23, to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for the Winnipeg Jets' fourth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
- The three-year Ryan Suter experiment officially came to an end just before the 2024 NHL Draft, as the Stars bought out the final, fourth year of the defenseman's deal -- a move that will save the club nearly $2.9 million against the cap next season, while costing them an extra $1.4 million in 2025-26. Interestingly, it's the second straight buyout in Suter's career, as the 39-year-old's still owed one more year of payment after the Minnesota Wild bought out the final four years of his deal with their franchise three years ago.
- The Stars traded the rights to negotiate with defenseman Chris Tanev -- who they'd only just acquired from Calgary before the trade deadline ahead of the 2024 Cup run -- to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a 2026 seventh-round pick, and the rights to restricted free agent forward Max Ellis. Native Ontarian Tanev, 34, later signed six-year, $27 million deal with hometown club. Ellis, 24, was not given qualifying offer by the Stars, thus becoming an unrestricted free agent.
- On July 2, the Stars announced that they'd traded forward Radek Faksa to the St. Louis Blues for "future considerations." Faksa, 30, was drafted by the Stars as the No. 13 overall selection in the 2012 NHL Draft, and made his debut with the pro team in October of 2015. The Czech Republic native appeared in 638 regular season and 79 postseason games for the Stars. In nine regular seasons with Dallas, he registered 88 goals and 110 assists, and was especially key to the team's forecheck, amassing 852 career hits and 484 career blocks. In trading him, the Stars cleared $3.25 million in cap space for the coming season.
- Finnish defenseman Jani Hakanpää, 32, officially departed the Stars' Finnish Mafia this offseason and signed a new two-year, $3 million deal following Tanev to the Toronto Maple Leafs. At 6-foot-6 and 225 pounds, Hakanpää is an imposing presence on the ice, and he registered a pair of goals, two goals, 12 points, 196 hits and 123 blocked shots in 64 regular season games for the Stars last season. But an injury kept him off the ice starting on March 16 and throughout the team's playoff run -- and, even in the wake of his Toronto signing, there is rampant speculation now that the injury suffered to his knee late last season could possibly keep him off the ice for the Leafs and maybe even end his career.
- Forward Craig Smith, who joined the Stars in free agency last season after previous stints with the Washington Capitals, Boston Bruins and Nashville Predators, has signed a one-year, $1 million deal with the Stars' Central Division rival Chicago Blackhawks. The 34-year-old University of Wisconsin product produced 11 goals and nine assists on the Stars' fourth line in 2023-2024.
- The Stars announced on July 1 that it would not be retaining the services of backup goalie Scott Wedgewood, who spent the last three seasons in the Stars' system. Wedgewood, 31, instead signed a two-year, $3 million deal with the Nashville Predators.
- Texas Stars goalie Matt Murray, 26, also finds himself heading to the Nashville Predators, having signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Stars' Central Division rivals. In his one start with the big league club in Dallas last season, Murray posted a 23-save shutout against the Minnesota Wild.
- Journeyman defenseman Derrick Pouliot, 30, has signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning after having appeared in five games for the Dallas Stars and 64 games for the Texas Stars last season. The no. 8 overall pick in the 2012 NHL Draft has previously played for the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Vancouver Canucks, the St. Louis Blues, the Vegas Golden Knights, the Seattle Kraken and the San Jose Sharks.
Returns
- A major priority for Dallas after he put together a 65-point season in his first year in Dallas following a surprising buyout by Nashville a year prior, forward Matt Duchene, 33, agreed with the Stars on a one-year, $3 million deal -- the exact same terms they agreed upon for last season.
- After three seasons with the Stars' minor league affiliate Texas Stars, defenseman Alex Petrovic, 32, found himself of use toward the end of the big league team's 2024 season, appearing in one regular season game and seven playoff games -- enough for the 6-foot-4 former Florida Panther and Edmonton Oiler to retain a two-year, two-way with he club.
- The Stars tendered a qualifying offer to defenseman Thomas Harley, a 22-year-old restricted free agent, thus retaining the team's 2019 first-round selection an integral member of its young blue line core for at least one more year to come.
- After his first year in Dallas, former Minnesota Wild forward and Anaheim Ducks 2026 first-round selection Sam Steel, a restricted free agent, was not tendered a qualifying offering by the Stars ahead of free agency. But the team quickly re-signed the 26-year-old as soon as free agency opened, coming to terms on a one-year, $1.2 million deal.
- Same as they did with Steel, the Stars chose not to tender a qualifying offer to restricted free agent defenseman Nils Lundqvist ahead of free agency, but instead came to terms with the 23-year-old 2018 New York Rangers first round pick on a one-year, $1.25 million deal as part of the formal free agency period.
- Czech forward Matěj Blümel, 24, who was drafted with the No. 100 overall pick by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2019 NHL Draft and signed with the Stars in 2022, has re-signed with Dallas on a fresh one-year, two-way deal. Last year, Blümel led the Texas Stars in goals scored (31) and finished second in points (72) behind Mavrik Bourque. His offensive output was also good enough to rank him fifth in the AHL in goals scored on the season. He was also, along with Bourque and Logan Stankoven, one of three Texas Stars to represent the Central Division at the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic.
- Swedish center Oskar Bäck, 24, who the Stars drafted with the 75th pick in the 2018 NHL Draft and who has spend the last three seasons with the team's minor league Texas Stars affiliate, has re-signed with the franchise, inking a new one-year, two-way deal with the club. The 6-foot-2 Bäck posted seven goals and 29 assists over 59 games played with the Cedar Park-based feeder club last season.
- Norwegian forward Emilio Pettersen, 24, who was drafted No. 167 overall in the 2018 NHL Draft by the Calgary Flames and was traded to the Stars in March of this year in exchange for Riley Damiani, has signed a new one-year, two-way deal with Dallas. The 5-foot-11 Pettersen scored 11 goals and posted 27 assists in the AHL last season between a split season with both the Calgary Wranglers and the Texas Stars.
New Faces
- To fill the void left behind by the Tanev trade, the Stars signed defenseman Matt Dumba, 29, most recently of the Arizona Coyotes and Tampa Bay Lightning -- but long of the Minnesota Wild -- a to two-year, $7.5 million deal. Stars fans will remember Dumba as persona non grata around these parts after he leveled a huge hit on Pavelski in the opening contest of the 2023 first-round playoff matchup between the Stars and Wild. Turns out time and money heal all wounds!
- Seemingly filling the Suter void, the Stars signed defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin, 30, to a three-year deal is worth $9.75 million. Lyubushkin started lasts season off with Anaheim before being traded to Toronto at the deadline as part of the Maple Leaf's playoff push. He's previously also played stints in Arizona and Buffalo.
- Taking Wedgewood's place as Jake Oettingers backup is 32-year-old goalie Casey DeSmith, who posted a 12-9-6 record with a 2.89 goals against average and .896 save percentage with the Vancouver Canucks last year. He signed a three-year, $3 million deal to join Dallas.
- 12-year veteran NHL defenseman Brendan Smith, 35, most recently of New Jersey -- where he set career highs in hits (117) and blocked shots (101) last season -- signed a one-year, $1 million deal to compete for a spot on the Dallas blue line.
- Defenseman Kyle Capobianco, 26, most recently of the Manitoba Moose (AHL) but having served previous stints with Arizona and Winnipeg, signed a two-year deal with Dallas -- the first year being a two-way contract and the second earning him $775,000 on a one-way agreement. He was selected No. 63 by Arizona in the 2015 NHL Draft.
- Forward Kole Lind, 25, who played one game with Seattle last season but otherwise manned the ice for the Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL) after earlier stints in his career in Seattle and Vancouver, signed a one-year, two-way deal with Dallas. The Canucks drafted Lind at No. 33 overall in the 2017 NHL Draft.,
- Forward Cameron Hughes, 27, also most recently of the Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL) and with a previous one-game stint with the Boston Bruins in the 2020-2021 season, signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Stars. The Bruins selected Hughes, who played college hockey at the University of Wisconsin, with the 165th pick in the 2015 draft.
- 31-year-old journeyman NHL forward Colin Blackwell, most recently of the Chicago Blackhawks but also previously of the Nashville Predators, New York Rangers, Seattle Kraken and Toronto Maple Leafs, signed a one-year, one-way deal with the Stars worth $775,000. In 44 games with the Blackhawks last season, the Harvard University product, scored eight goals and registered four assists. He was selected by the San Jose Sharks with the No. 194 overall pick in the 2011 NHL Draft.
- 33-year-old goalie Magnus Hellberg, who posted a 1-1-0 record with a 2.50 goals-against average and .922 save percentage in three appearances with the Pittsburgh Penguins last season, has signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Stars, beefing up the team's netminder depth. A larger goalie who stands at 6-foot-6, 220 pounds, the Swede also appeared in 27 combined AHL games last season between the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Charlotte Checkers. He went 9-8-2 with a 2.92 GAA and .905 SV% in 19 games with the Penguins, and 5-2-0 with a 2.34 GAA and .898 SV%, plus a shutout, in eight games with the Checkers. He has a career NHL record of 8-8-1 record with a 3.08 GAA and .890 SV% in 26 career regular-season games with Nashville, the New York Rangers, Detroit, Ottawa and Pittsburgh. Across his career in the AHL, he's posted a 100-83-17 mark with a 2.52 GAA, .913 SV% and 15 shutouts in 218 regular-season games.
Fresh Prospects
- With the 29th pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, the Dallas Stars selected 18-year-old Emil Hemming, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound forward from Vaasa, Finland, who posted seven goals and 11 points in 40 games as a rookie in Finland's top professional league this past season. Said Stars Director of Amateur Scouting Joe McDonnell of the team's 2024 first-round selection: "Emil's an excellent two-way player who has a great one-timer and wrist shot." He is also the latest in a long line of Stars players to spring from Finland.
- Also joining Hemming in Helsinki South is the 6-foot-5, 195-pound, 18-year-old Finnish defenseman Niilopekka Muhonen, who the Stars selected in the fifth round of the 2024 Draft with the 158th overall pick.
- With their third and final pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, the Stars chose 6-foot, 176-pound, 18-year-old Swedish center William Samuelsson in the seventh round, with the 222nd overall pick.
See Hemming's introductory press conference in Dallas below:
Watch Nill discuss the Stars' selection of Hemming with the No. 29 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft below: