The Dallas Stars went from boasting a young and shaky defensive group to one that could be very threatening by simply signing one free agent yesterday. But what about the former Stars’ defenders that did not sign?
The annual NHL free agency frenzy was even crazier than usual this year. Though no “superstars” per say were on the free agent market, there were plenty of game changers looking for new contracts.
That being said, the money went flying. With a slight bump up in the cap, it seems as though a lot of teams took complete advantage of every penny they had. By the end of July 1st, 129 players had signed new deals with teams and a total of $616.2 million was spent in salaries. That’s a new record for the NHL history books.
In just the first hour of the frenzy, teams had already spent a total that combined to more than the entire amount that was spent one year earlier on July 1, 2015.
Some of the deals were simply outrageous. Milan Lucic to the Oilers on a seven-year, $42 million contract. Kyle Okposo went to the Buffalo Sabres on the same terms and salary as Lucic. Andrew Ladd ventured off to the New York Islanders on a seven-year, $38.5 million deal.
The money was rocketing across the league, and every team seemed to have been in on something.
The Dallas Stars made one of the moves they needed to, signing defenseman Dan Hamhuis out of free agency. Hamhuis will come in as a strong veteran presence on a relatively young Stars blue line and will hopefully aid in turning it into a group that can help carry Dallas to their Stanley Cup aspirations.
But meanwhile, there were a few defensemen near the top of the list skill-wise that did not ink a new deal. Two of those d-men are former Dallas Stars Kris Russell and Jason Demers.
A quick disclaimer: as this article was being written, Jason Demers signed a five-year, $22.5 million deal with the Florida Panthers. We were going to write about the possibility of his return as well, but, well, not anymore. So we’ll just write about Kris Russell instead.
While the Stars now have a clearcut and rather intimidating defensive group, is there any possibility that Russell might come back to Big D?
Russell came to Dallas at the trade deadline back on February 29, 2016 in a trade with the Calgary Flames. In 11 regular season games, he was a valuable defender for the Stars on such unexpected notice. He tallied four assists and a -1 on-ice rating. He was, however, beneficial to the Stars in his area of expertise: blocking shots. Russell stood in front of 36 in the 11 games.
The postseason rolled around, and Russell skated in 12 of the 13 games. He once again tallied four assists and improved on his plus-minus rating with a +1. He also blocked 24 shots.
Russell is by no means big, standing at 5-10 and weighing in at 170 pounds. He is not known as a physical defender, but instead makes his presence known by standing in front of the puck and helping out on special teams. He is a good puck-moving defenseman that can eat up minutes. So why not bring him back? The majority of Stars fans seemed to want a new contract offered to him.
There are a few problems with bringing Russell back, though. The first and most obvious one is the money.
The Dallas Stars could not negotiate a new deal with either Russell or Demers this past June simply because of the salary they were demanding. Demers was hunting for somewhere in the ballpark of $5.5 million per year, which the Stars were completely unwilling to offer him. Russell, on the other hand, was looking for a sizable deal as well, though no specific numbers were reported.
Russell has a reputation around the NHL for being a bit “overrated,” and Stars fans were simply waiting to see which NHL team would drastically overpay him.
But so far, the 29-year old defenseman is still an unrestricted free agent. Demers missed out on signing on the first day, which can only be assumed to mean that he did not find that $5.5 million per year ticket. Today, he signed for $4.5 million per, which some Dallas fans believe is still way too much.
So why would Dallas not want to return Russell and further excel the blue line with veterans? Well, it’s probably because he was never their first option.
At the trade deadline this past year, the Dallas Stars were going all in on trading for Dan Hamhuis. The defenseman waived his no-trade clause and was ready to pack his bags, but Vancouver ended up being stingy with their asking price. So the Stars abandoned that avenue and went with Russell as a plan B. Now Dallas has Hamhuis and obtained him without losing anything in return.
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And finally, the Stars simply don’t have space for him anymore. It’s sad to see that Russell’s money demands is the reason he won’t be rejoining this club, but to each his own. And hey, he might find a new deal out there. Meanwhile, the Stars are off to bigger and better things with their new defensive group. From this current point, this is what the Dallas Stars defense looks like.
Dan Hamhuis – John Klingberg
Considering the Stars crammed schedule come next season, it looks like they will need to carry eight defensemen. This is a respectable and potentially dangerous group. So, they’re good in terms of blue liners.
In the end, it’s going to be a very weird adjustment period for Stars fans. Alex Goligoski will no longer be skating in Dallas for the first time since 2011. Jason Demers is gone after two good years with the organization. And Russell, who fit in quickly, is gone as well. This new blue line has some familiar faces, but as a whole it is very different.
Next: Dan Hamhuis Is Exactly What The Stars Need
But that’s what the offseason is all about: changing up the club and looking for something that works. We’ll see what Jim Nill has in store and how this Dallas Stars team fares next year. Is a Stanley Cup in sight?