Dallas Stars Re-sign Patrik Nemeth To One-Year Deal
Patrik Nemeth signed a one-year deal with the Dallas Stars today, only further pushing the defensive logjam issue on their blue line.
The Dallas Stars made a lot of noise today (and may not be completely done, so keep your eyes peeled). They signed new forwards Martin Hanzal, Tyler Pitlick, and Brian Flynn as well as goaltender Mike McKenna, and watched former Stars Patrick Sharp and Antti Niemi go off to new destinations.
But in the midst of all the additions and subtractions, they also re-signed defenseman Patrik Nemeth to a one-year, $925,000 contract.
Nemeth was a pending RFA at the beginning of the offseason and received a qualifying offer from the Stars this past Monday so as to protect him from turning into a UFA. Now they have settled on a contract that has the 25-year-old locked up for another year.
In 108 career games spanning across four seasons, the defender has 14 assists and a -8 rating.
Dallas Stars
This signing was met with its fair share of confusion. Ever since trading for Marc Methot on Monday night, the Dallas Stars’ defensive overstocking has become an evident problem. The Stars have eight NHL-ready defensemen currently under contract along with one qualified RFA for a total of nine defensemen. That’s too many, plain and simple.
Marc Methot, John Klingberg, Esa Lindell, Stephen Johns, Dan Hamhuis, and Julius Honka seem to be the consensus favorites to make up the Stars’ starting blue line next year, leaving Jamie Oleksiak, Patrik Nemeth, and Greg Pateryn as the odd defenders out.
It’s likely that Dallas will carry at least seven defenders next season, but eight seems to be pushing it in terms of proper development. With none of these players in a position to be sent to the AHL based on their recent past, which defenseman gets the nod going forward as the seventh man? Is it Nemeth considering his new contract?
Don’t count on it just yet. There’s still a lot of moving pieces and the Stars could go in any of three different directions.
“We’re still looking to make some more moves,” Nill said when asked about the nine defenders on Saturday afternoon.
Each of the three defenders brings a different set of positives to the table, but which ones could benefit the most from a fresh start? Nemeth and Oleksiak have been in the NHL for four and five years, respectively, but have yet to lock in a starting spot with Dallas. Instead, they have been passed up by names like Klingberg, Lindell, Honka, and Johns.
It may be time for the Dallas Stars to part ways with these two. It could end up being the best for both sides to split ties and move on. But that remains to be seen. There’s also an opportunity that Dallas keeps them around through training camp and takes a further evaluation from there.
“If we don’t [make any moves], we know we’re coming to camp probably with nine defensemen and it’s going to be good competition,” Nill said. “We want to come into camp with spots open and see where the competition takes us.”
But this contract could mean that the Dallas Stars are setting Nemeth up in a better spot to be traded. It’s a low-budget, low-risk deal that could be appealing to some teams wanting to try out a young defender. After all, trading for a defenseman on a qualifying offer isn’t the most appealing offer.
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Or maybe Dallas is planning on keeping him around for next season as a seventh option. There’s a number of things that this contract could mean.
Only time will tell what the real reasoning behind it is.