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Dallas Stars free agency tracker: Who’s staying, who’s going and who’s joining the team
NHL free agency: a period where every hockey fan has to regularly ask themselves, “Who’s on my team again?”
Don’t fret. We’re here to help keep track of who the Dallas Stars are signing, re-signing and letting walk in free agency this offseason.
This will be updated as new information becomes available.
Who have the Stars signed?
D Matt Dumba
The 30-year-old signed a two-year deal worth $3.75 million value annually. Dumba spent last season with the Tampa Bay Lightning after being dealt by Arizona at the trade deadline.
D Ilya Lyubushkin
Lyubushkin, who played for the Maple Leafs in parts of two of the past three seasons, agreed to a three-year, $3.25 million AAV deal with Dallas.
D Brendan Smith
Smith’s one-year contract is worth $1 million. The 35-year-old most recently played for New Jersey and has played both defenseman and forward in his career.
G Casey DeSmith
DeSmith signed a three-year deal through 2026-27 worth $1 million annually, and he figures to be the new backup to Jake Oettinger.
D Kyle Capobianco
The former Manitoba Moose and the AHL’s top scoring defenseman last season was signed to a two-year deal in which the first year is a two-way contract and the second year is a one-way worth $775,000.
F Kole Lind
Lind, who was signed to a one-year, two-way contract, helped the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds, the affiliate of the Seattle Kraken, to back-to-back Calder Cup finals.
F Cameron Hughes
Hughes, who also played for the Firebirds, received a one-year, two-way contract from the Stars after a 25-goal season in Coachella Valley.
Who have the Stars re-signed?
F Sam Steel
Restricted free agent forward Sam Steel did not receive a qualifying offer on Sunday, making him an unrestricted free agent Monday at 11 a.m. But just 90 minutes later, the Stars announced they re-signed the fourth-line forward to a one-year contract for the 2024-25 season. The deal is worth $1.2 million.
D Nils Lundkvist
The Stars re-signed defenseman Nils Lundkvist to a one-year, $1.25 million deal. The 23-year-old has spent the last two seasons with Dallas after a blockbuster trade ahead of the 2022-23 season, in which the Stars sacrificed a 2023 first-round draft pick to the New York Rangers. In 119 regular-season games in Dallas, Lundkvist hasn’t lived up to expectations, scoring just 35 points despite being known for his offensive ability.
F Matt Duchene
The Stars announced they re-signed Duchene to a one-year, $3 million deal, the same deal he signed to join Dallas’ roster last season. The unrestricted free agent will return to Dallas in the fall for his second year.
D Alexander Petrovic
The Stars signed defenseman Alexander Petrovic to a two-year, two-way contract last Friday. The 32-year-old appeared in one regular-season game and seven playoff games for the Stars last season. Petrovic spent most of last season with the Texas Stars, where he had 22 points in 70 games.
F Oskar Back
Drafted with Dallas’ third-round pick in 2018, Back scored 36 points, seven goals and 29 assists, in 59 regular-season games in Cedar Park, with an additional five points in seven Calder Cup games. His new two-way contract is worth $775,000, and he will be an unrestricted free agent in 2025.
F Matej Blumel
Blumel signed a two-way deal for the 2024-25 season. In his second AHL season, the 24-year-old led Texas in goals (31) and ranked second in points (62) in 72 regular-season games.
F Emilio Pettersen
Pettersen, who also signed a two-way deal for next season, split the 2023-24 AHL season between the Calgary Wranglers and the Texas Stars. The 24-year-old posted 30 points (7 goals, 23 assists) in 54 games with Calgary before he was acquired by Dallas via trade on March 7.
Who’s leaving?
D Chris Tanev
Just 124 days after the Stars traded for the 34-year-old right-handed defenseman, the Toronto Maple Leafs signed him to a six-year deal with an average annual value of $4.5 million.
The Stars traded the rights to Tanev to Toronto on Saturday during the second day of the NHL draft after it became apparent that Jim Nill and his staff would not be able to re-sign him.
F Craig Smith
The Blackhawks announced Monday afternoon they had signed the former Dallas Stars forward to a one-year, $1 million deal when free agency opened. Smith was acquired by Dallas in free agency last year after splitting the 2022-23 season between Boston and Washington. He appeared in 75 regular season games and recorded 20 points on Dallas’ fourth line.
D Jani Hakanpaa
Hakanpää reportedly signed a two-year, $3 million contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, ending his three-year stint in Dallas after a difficult season.
The Finnish defenseman played the fewest games since becoming a mainstay of the Stars’ lineup in the 2021-22 season — appearing in just 64 in the regular season and none in the playoffs after dealing with injury.
G Scott Wedgewood
The 31-year-old backup goaltender agreed to a two-year, $1.5 million AAV deal with the Nashville Predators. Despite being a good fit, the Stars and Wedgewood’s team couldn’t agree to new contract ahead of his previous one expiring Monday. He sought a raise that Dallas wouldn’t deliver on.
F Ty Dellandrea
The Stars traded forward Ty Dellandrea to the Sharks in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2025 NHL draft, though Dellandrea, who was set to become a free agent, is not yet under contract for the 2024-25 season.
Who’s left to sign?
D Thomas Harley
The Stars extended a qualifying offer to restricted free agent defenseman Thomas Harley Sunday. By doing so, Dallas retains negotiating rights for the young blue-liner.
Harley was due for the biggest raise among Dallas’ RFAs and the most likely candidate for an offer sheet. The 22-year-old defenseman recorded 47 points (15 goals and 32 assists) as a top-pairing defenseman for Dallas last year despite making an average annual salary of $7.6 million less than his partner Miro Heiskanen. His negotiation could also be the most complicated.
F Max Ellis
The Stars received Ellis, who was not under contract for 2024-25 but over whom Dallas retained negotiating rights, from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Chris Tanev’s negotiating rights. The 5-foot-9, 166-pound forward did not receive a qualifying offer by Sunday, making him a free agent. The 24-year-old notched 14 points in 36 regular-season games with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies last season.
Find more Stars coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
Behold the 2026 Dallas Cowboys schedule.
We knew coming into Thursday that the Cowboys would be on the road to take on the New York Giants in the season opener on Sunday Night Football, that Dallas is “hosting” the Baltimore Ravens in Brazil in Week 3, and that the Philadelphia Eagles would be in town for Thanksgiving Day. Now we know it all.
Among the first things that jump to mind is that bye week is late. Dallas isn’t on bye until Week 14, the Sunday of that week is December 13th for full perspective.
The Cowboys also only play twice in their own building, thanks to the Brazil game, before November. Sometimes those weird quirks show up in schedules and this is certainly one of them.
It is interesting to see that the NFL gave Dallas the longest amount of rest possible after their Thanksgiving tilt. It hasn’t been uncommon for the league to have the Cowboys play on consecutive Thursdays, but perhaps that is a thing of the past.
Flashit Photography
On Wednesday, the Dallas City Council approved funding that will replace highway exit signs and road signs marking Lamar Street with new signage honoring Botham Jean, the 26-year-old Dallas accountant who was fatally shot in his own apartment by an off-duty Dallas police officer in 2018.
The $180,500 in funding for 13 signs to be installed by the Texas Department of Transportation is the final step in the street renaming that was unanimously approved by the council in 2021. The new signs will be placed at exits along Interstate 45, State Highway 310 and U.S. Highway 175.
Already, Botham Jean Boulevard signs run along the road in the Cedars, where Jean lived before he was killed.
“This street on which he chose to live and the street on which he died can serve as a lasting memory of the upstanding resident who loved Dallas so much,” his mother, Allison Jean, told the council in 2021.
Jean was shot by Amber Guyger, a Dallas police officer, after she entered his apartment believing it was her own. A Dallas jury found Guyger guilty of murder in 2019 and sentenced her to 10 years in prison. She has also been ordered to pay the Jean family nearly $100 million in a civil trial, which accused her of using excessive force.
The Jean family is seeking restitution from the city of Dallas because they argue that Dallas, as Guyger’s former employer, had a duty to defend Guyger and pay out claims brought against her. The Jean family filed suit against the city in April of this year.
On Wednesday, city council member Adam Bazaldua stated that the continued remembrance of Jean’s name is a reminder that “no one is above the law.”
“This has never simply been about changing street signs; it has always been about commemorating a life that was taken too soon,” said Bazaldua. “When driving down Botham Jean Boulevard, we are reminded of the thousands of lives lost across the country each year to senseless gun violence.”
Bazaldua said that once city leaders were made aware that some signs from the initial 2021 street name change had not materialized, the horseshoe took steps to correct the oversight “somewhat promptly.” But he acknowledged that Wednesday’s funding came on the heels of community advocacy urging the project’s completion.
Community leader Yafeuh Balogun said his organization, Community Movement Builders, began asking the city for the updated signs in September 2025. Addressing the council ahead of Wednesday’s vote, Balogun encouraged the horseshoe to vote in favor of the funds because it “would make no sense” to not follow through with the street renaming approved years ago.
“I think this is very powerful simply because driving here today, I still saw the Lamar Street Signs,” Balogun said. “I remember how powerful it was back in 2021 when the city council voted to rename Lamar Street to Botham Jean. I’d like to keep that legacy going.”
We’re less than a month out from the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and North Texans volunteering in the event have received their uniforms. FOX 4’s Peyton Yager has more on that and the new hospitality tickets released today.
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