The 2017-18 season is still more than two months away and the Dallas Stars still have some business to complete in terms of re-signing. That might cause them to break the bank on their salary cap, but it’s okay for right now.
The Dallas Stars did a lot of good things this offseason, and even that might be an understatement.
They closed out their second-worst season in franchise history on April 8 with a shootout win over the Colorado Avalanche. The win closed their season out with an ugly 34-37-11 record with 79 points. It was a devastating drop from 2015-16 and gave Dallas Stars fans plenty to panic about.
The Stars entered the 2017 offseason with a massive to-do list that had built up over the 2016-17 season, giving GM Jim Nill plenty to fix.
Now that it’s been three months, fans can look back on all of the built-up anxiety with extreme relief.
Dallas Stars
Dallas needed help in every area and they got it. Nill started off by adding head coach Ken Hitchcock, improving the defensive strength and the overall strategy for Dallas. He followed that up by trading for and signing goaltender Ben Bishop, effectively giving the Stars the starting goaltender that they had been needing for years.
After that, it all just seems like a bit of a blur. As the offseason rolled on, the Stars shored up their blue line by trading for Marc Methot and bolstered their offensive lineup with the additions of Martin Hanzal and Alexander Radulov. With all of these moves, Dallas not only beefed up all of their weak spots, but also managed to have the best offseason of any team in the league. Talk about a quick turnaround.
One thing that started out as a non-issue but slowly became a factor in the Stars’ offseason expedition was their salary cap. The Stars started the offseason with somewhere near $20 million in cap space and had plenty of room to make massive adjustments.
But with all of the additions, that room quickly ran out. A new contract for Bishop ($4,916,667 million), Radulov ($6.25 million), and Hanzal ($4.75 million) along with inheriting Methot’s contract ($4.9 million) put the Dallas Stars right up against the cap wall.
The problem is that Dallas has locked down all but one of their RFAs, being Jamie Oleksiak. They only have an estimated $768,333 left in cap space, and that’s likely not enough to sign Oleksiak and get him off of the qualifying offer he is currently on.
Oleksiak’s deal will probably be for one year around $900K. So once Oleksiak is signed (which should happen here in the next few weeks), that will push the Stars over the limit. It may only be around $250K, but they will be in the danger zone nonetheless.
In addition to Oleksiak, the Stars will also call up Julius Honka before the season begins, so that’s another $863,333 tacked on. That would push the Stars to over $1 million in the hole.
With that fact in mind, some may think that Oleksiak is going to be traded while still on his qualifying offer so the Stars can avoid the falling any further into a cap crisis. But the fact of the matter is that Dallas can re-sign Oleksiak and still be okay… for now.
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The thing is that teams can be over the salary cap during the offseason. This gives teams the chance to stock up on talent during free agency even if it means going over the cap. All they have to do from there is make some decisions before the season begins.
And that’s exactly what the Dallas Stars are going to do. Their only glaring problem at the moment is their overstocking on defense (considering they have nine NHL-ready defensemen). Dallas will have to do something with one or two of their defenders to get within the roster limits, and it will likely happen before the season starts on October 6.
It’s okay if the Dallas Stars break the bank at the moment. They still have 79 days before they have to be within the restrictions, and a lot can happen between now and then. The days after training camp will likely be the Stars’ time to get back in the limits, but until then, they can think it all through while staying slightly over.
Next: Ranking Each Offseason In Jim Nill's Tenure
Nill will eventually need to start making breathing room for future extensions and signings, but until then, he’s in win-now mode. And though it may not be the best idea for down the road, it’s a nice place to be in right about now.