Dallas Stars Offseason Review

Goaltending

Heading into the offseason, the Dallas Stars faced the most uncertainty at the goaltender position. Starting goalie Ilya Sorokin was a restricted free agent and rumor had it he was looking to reset the goalie market. Backup Craig Anderson was a UFA considering retirement, top prospect Daniil Tarasov was an RFA, and former prospects Mikhail Berdin and Amir Miftakhov decided to defect to mother Russia.

After tense negotiations, the Stars reached an agreement that made Sorokin the second highest paid goalie in the RHL with a 6 year, $40.5M deal. They resigned Anderson to a 1 year deal for $1.25M, but gave him a $475K signing bonus to help their tight cap situation. Anderson has said this will be his last year in the league and hopes to help bring Dallas its first championship.

Tarasov was given a 3 year deal on a one way contract, indicating the team sees him as their backup of the future. Although they still hold the rights to the Russian defectors, the team beefed up their goalie prospect pipeline by drafting Antoine Keller and signing 22 year old Taylor Gauthier, whom they considered drafting in 2021 but ultimately passed on.

Defense

Defensive shortcomings held the Stars back last year, keeping them out of the playoffs. They made a big trade at the deadline, shipping out high scoring winger Alex DeBrincat for top pair defenseman Mackenzie Weegar to shore up the blue line. As a result, the team made back end tweaks at the margins as they lacked the cap space to make more substantial moves.

The team let go of free agents Alexander Edler and Michael del Zotto while trading away the disappointing Anton Stralman and Jacob Bryson. GM ODeezy thought the defense was too one dimensional last season, and prioritized bringing in a puck-moving offensive defenseman as well a physical, stay at home one. The Stars got both, inking Erik Gustafsson to a 4 year deal at $1.25M per year and acquiring Patrick Nemeth for a 6th. Additionally, veterans Mike Reilly and Scott Harrington were signed to two year, two way contracts to provide depth and competition this year and next. 

Dallas picked Finnish defenseman Arrtu Karki with their first selection in the RHL draft. Although he was a third round pick, the Stars believe he has the upside of a first rounder and we’re thrilled to land him. He instantly becomes a top 5 prospect in a system that is deep but lacking true high end talent. The team also controversially traded for maligned prospect Mitchell Miller. Miller’s transgressions as a child have led to him being banned from the RHL indefinitely. The team plans to work with him to develop his character and hopefully pave a way for him to rejoin the league down the road.

Forward

Up front, the Stars entered the offseason mostly set with one big move needed: re-signing emerging winger Jesper Bratt. After a breakout season that cemented his ability as a strong top 6 player, Bratt commanded more than expected as an RFA. But ultimately, the Stars were satisfied retaining him on a massive 8 year, $63M deal that matches his jersey number to boot. Due to the likes of Kirill Kaprizov, Nikita Kucherov, and William Nylander above him on the winger depth chart, he’ll be relied on more for secondary scoring in the middle 6 and on the second power play. 

Additionally, the Stars also bolstered their fourth line and depth options. They resigned Reese Johnson as an RFA and Zemgus Girgensons as a UFA after he got surprisingly little interest on the open market. The likes of Andrew Agozzino, Patric Hornqvist, Liam O’Brien and Josh Archibald were also brought in on two way contracts to give competition to the bottom of the roster. With Paul Byron expected to land on LTIR for the entire season with a career-threatening hip injury, the entire fourth line is up for grabs.

Due to the outside talent brought in, the Stars felt it necessary to move out Devin Shore and Ross Johnston who were both on one way deals. With promising prospects Brendan Brisson and Alexander Pashin inking entry level contracts this offseason, the team wanted to have enough ice time in the farm to develop them. Their other interesting move at forward was trading for Vladimir Tkachev, whom the Stars originally drafted in the 7th round of the 2014 draft. Rumor had it that Tkachev was entertaining returning to the US from Russia this offseason and the Stars hoped to finally see Tkachev put on their uniform. But he instead resigned with his KHL team, meaning the Stars can only hope he commits to a return to America after his next deal expires.