Dallas Stars normal supervisor Jim Nill didn’t have any cap area, however he had every part else that Matt Duchene wished. In the long run, that was sufficient to maintain his main scorer in Dallas for 4 extra seasons.
The Stars introduced Thursday that they’ve re-signed Duchene, who posted 82 factors in 82 video games this previous season, to a four-year take care of a cap hit of simply $4.5 million. Even given Duchene’s age, 34, it’s a bargain-basement worth for a confirmed participant coming off that kind of season. Only a day earlier, the Chicago Blackhawks re-signed Ryan Donato, coming off a career-high 62 factors (greater than twice his earlier excessive), to a four-year take care of a $4 million cap hit.
The signing is bound to spark extra dialog concerning the inherent benefit tax-free states akin to Texas have, however as Duchene himself mentioned in the course of the playoffs, the prospect to win and the laid-back way of life in Dallas suited him completely at this stage of his profession.
In a dialog with The Athletic final month concerning the pending unrestricted free company of Duchene and captain Jamie Benn, Nill had little doubt they’d be again.
“They wish to be right here, I would like them to be right here,” he mentioned. “After which we’ve received to discover a quantity that works for each.”
The signing leaves the Stars with nearly no remaining cap area for Benn, who’s eligible to signal an incentive-laden over-35 contract, or Mikael Granlund, who was acquired by way of commerce midseason, and even pending RFA Mavrik Bourque, a 23-year-old whom the group has excessive hopes for. With 25-year-old Jason Robertson coming into the ultimate 12 months of his contract, carrying a $7.75 million cap hit, there was hypothesis that he may very well be on the commerce block to make the maths work.
Duchene is a 16-year NHL veteran who appears to have gotten higher with age. In 2021-22, he had 43 targets and 86 factors with the Nashville Predators, and he’s scored 55 targets over his two seasons in Dallas.
He had a really irritating postseason, although, because the Stars misplaced within the Western Convention last for the third straight season. In 18 playoff video games, he had only one aim and 5 assists. This, after scoring simply two targets in 19 playoff video games in 2024. Duchene was producing loads of possibilities, however felt snake-bitten this spring.
“Lots of people simply have a look at numbers,” he mentioned in the course of the convention last. “I like the place I’m at, I like the place my sport’s at. I’m enjoying higher than I used to be final 12 months at the moment, so much higher offensively and I’m extra myself. I believe it’s the identical participant I’ve been within the common season. Then you definitely add within the little nuances of playoff hockey which I had final 12 months, be ok with that. It’s irritating as a result of it’s an important time of 12 months and it’s the final time you wish to undergo it. On the similar time, I all the time concentrate on course of and in case your course of is nice, the outcomes come ultimately.”
Very nice deal for the Stars right here. Matt Duchene has been a pivotal a part of the crew’s assault, scoring at a 70-plus level tempo with Dallas over the past two years. Even at a four-year time period, $4.5M seems to be like a steal. pic.twitter.com/89XMnhVv1A
— dom 📈 (@domluszczyszyn) June 19, 2025
The extension can pay Duchene a $3 million signing bonus plus a $3 million wage within the first 12 months, a $3 million signing bonus plus a $1.8 million wage within the second and a $3.6 million wage within the fourth and fifth, per The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun. The primary two years embrace a full no-move clause, and within the third and fourth, he’ll have a partial no-trade clause with the power to provide the Stars 5 groups he’d be keen to be traded to.
(Photograph: Sam Hodde / Getty Photos)
