The Dallas Stars made a plethora of moves this week as the NHL free agency period officially began on Monday at 11 a.m., giving teams the opportunity to sign players in hopes of improving their rosters in the 2024-25 season.
Dallas, coming off a tough series loss to the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Finals, opted to move on from forward Ty Dellandrea after a trade with the San Jose Sharks, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
The Stars are updating their roster through various free-agent signings, including three with multi-year contracts with the franchise.
Dallas signed defenseman Matt Dumba to its first multi-year contract of the period, a two-year contract worth $7.5 million. Dumba accumulated a total of 12 points across 76 games with the Arizona Coyotes and Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2023-24 season, finishing with the NHL’s 11th-highest total hits with 202.
The Stars’ second multi-year contract went to goaltender Casey DeSmith, who the team locked up on a three-year contract worth $3 million. DeSmith finished the year with a record of 12-9-6 in 27 appearances, giving up an average of 2.89 goals per game and saving 89.6% of shots sent his way.
Although the Stars signed DeSmith through the 2026-27 season, it is unlikely he will see the ice unless there is an injury to Jake Oettinger, who is coming off a season in which he gave up an average of 2.72 goals per game and prevented 90.5% of shots on goal from getting past him.
The final multi-year contract the Stars have given out thus far in free agency was to defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin, who will now be coming to Dallas on a three-year contract worth $9.75 million.
Lyubushkin played 74 games with the Anaheim Ducks and Toronto Maple Leafs last season, picking up eight points between his two tenures.
Dallas also made an effort to resign multiple returning players to contract extensions, bringing back forward Sam Steel, forward Matt Duchene, and defenseman Nils Lundkvist on one-year contracts.
Dallas, with a refreshed roster heading into the 2024-25 season, recently announced the schedule for its upcoming training camp and preseason.
Training camp for the Stars will begin on September 18, just three days ahead of their first preseason game against the St. Louis Blues on September 21.