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Dallas Stars News: Esa Lindell Signs New Deal, Stars Buyout Antti Niemi

By Josh Clark

Dec 1, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Dallas Stars goalie Antti Niemi (31) and defenseman Esa Lindell (23) defend Pittsburgh Penguins left wing Carl Hagelin (62) in front of the net during the second period at the PPG PAINTS Arena. The Penguins won 6-2. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 1, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Dallas Stars goalie Antti Niemi (31) and defenseman Esa Lindell (23) defend Pittsburgh Penguins left wing Carl Hagelin (62) in front of the net during the second period at the PPG PAINTS Arena. The Penguins won 6-2. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Dallas Stars made all kinds of moves today, and luckily they were all the correct ones. Catch up on all that happened here.

Things are starting to pick up speed and catch fire for the Dallas Stars as the NHL nears the free agency opening on July 1.

It’s the time of year where every NHL team is trying to quickly get their ducks in a row before the craziness ensues once again. It was crazy at the NHL Entry Draft (even more so this year with the expansion draft involved) and it’s going to be crazy on July 1.

But there’s always this one week period in between where teams can take a quick breath before diving right back into the mess as they frantically try to tweak/rebuild their teams before the next season.

And to be honest, this is the last true chance they will get with no holds barred to do whatever they can. Sign new players, re-sign old players, make a blockbuster trade, buyout a player; the list goes on and on. All of these actions reach their highest potential at this point in the offseason, so why not cash in?

Dallas Stars
Dallas Stars /

Dallas Stars

The Dallas Stars made plenty of waves today with their current players. Catch up on all of the news here.

Antti Niemi put on waivers, headed for buyout

The first big move of the day came when it was reported that the Dallas Stars had placed veteran goaltender Antti Niemi on waivers with the intention to buy out his contract.

The 33-year-old just completed his second season with the Stars, but it’s likely that he’d like to forget it as much as Stars fans would. In 37 appearances, Niemi posted a record of 12-12-4 with a .892 save percentage and a 3.30 GAA. These stats combined with fellow goalie Kari Lehtonen’s were enough to send GM Jim Nill out on the hunt to find a new starting goaltender and completely scratch the goaltending tandem plan.

Niemi was acquired during the 2015 NHL Entry Draft by the Stars and helped form the veteran tandem that Dallas used for the last two seasons. The duo had a decent showing in 2015-16 but crumbled in the playoffs and was horrific in 2016-17. As a result, Nill quickly acquired Ben Bishop in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings to be the Stars’ new goalie no more than a month into the offseason.

Niemi is a dedicated player and it’s unfortunate that his worst season had to come at such a poor time. But Dallas needs to get a move on towards the future and finally have some solidity in their crease.

Niemi’s buyout will cost the Stars $3 million over the next two seasons and will tack on a cap hit of $1.5 million over each of the two years.

In the end, this is a good move by Nill. There was no trade market for an aging veteran like Niemi and the Stars are now set in the crease with the duo of Bishop and Lehtonen. Moving on.

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Stars re-sign defenseman Esa Lindell

The next big announcement that came out just moments later was in regards to the new contract that defenseman Esa Lindell signed with the team.

The 23-year-old Finn signed a two-year deal worth $4.4 million ($2.2 million AAV) with the club today, officially taking him off of the Stars’ pending RFA list.

In his rookie season with the team last year, Lindell scored six goals and tallied 18 points in 73 games. He played on the Stars’ top pairing with John Klingberg and proved to be an effective addition to the blue line.

Lindell is setting himself up for a long tenure with the Dallas Stars after a tremendous rookie season showing, and this contract could lead to a larger one down the road, assuming that he continues proving himself and reaching new heights. More on Lindell’s progress and value to the team will be up soon.

Extra note: The Stars also signed RFA center Mark McNeill (acquired at the 2017 Trade Deadline from Chicago) to a one-year, two-way contract.

This is all for now, but keep your eyes open. Plenty of NHL teams released their list of qualified RFAs and the Dallas Stars could be doing the same here shortly.

Next: Sharp, Hemsky Top List Of UFAs Stars Should Re-sign

But all in all, it was a good day for the Dallas Stars’ future. Not only did they part ways with a player in order to create space for the upcoming season, but they also locked down a valuable piece of their team going forward.

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