Dallas Stars: Kari Lehtonen Could Solidify New Contract In Final Games
By Josh Clark
There are three games remaining in the Dallas Stars’ 2017-18 season. Kari Lehtonen is projected to be the starter in all three games. This is his last chance at earning a new contract through his play if he hasn’t done so already.
A lot of things get lost in the shuffle when a team is eliminated from a playoff race. That is exactly what is happening with the Dallas Stars right now.
On Sunday night, the Stars were mathematically eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoff race. The Anaheim Ducks won their game in overtime, leaving Dallas unable to get the necessary points to hop back into the Western Conference playoff picture by the end of the season.
And with that being the focus, many other aspects are cast out of the frame. If you have been so caught up in Dallas missing the playoffs that you haven’t taken a look around, don’t forget that the Stars only have three more games in their regular season campaign. After that, it’s off to another long summer of questioning what went wrong and how to fix it.
That’s what Dallas Stars fans need to be focusing on. The past is the past now. These final three games could dictate just how confident the Stars enter the offseason and could also shed some light on summer decisions that must be made. These games are also the last chance at watching Victory Green hockey between now and September.
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One of those big summer decisions has to do with goaltender Kari Lehtonen.
After spending the last nine seasons of his career in Dallas, Lehtonen’s contract will be up for renewal on July 1, 2018. It will mark the end of a significant era in the Dallas Stars’ goaltending history, considering Lehtonen has run the crease as the starter for all but one of the past eight years.
The question on everyone’s minds is pretty simple: will he get a new contract offer?
It’s been quite the season for Kari Lehtonen. After being bumped from the starter role entirely with the signing of Ben Bishop last summer, many were interested to see how Lehtonen would adjust to being the backup.
So far, he has not disappointed. He is 14-14-3 on the season with a .912 save percentage and 2.54 goals against average. These numbers used to be better, too.
The reason they have leveled out so significantly is because of the situation Lehtonen is currently in. Kari has started 11 of the Stars’ past 13 games while Bishop recovers from a knee injury. With this increased role, he’s had to adjust yet again. That cannot be easy midseason.
But Lehtonen is making the most of it. Over the past month, he’s played respectively well in the crease and given his team a chance to win on most nights. Sadly, however, the team in front of him isn’t returning the favor.
The Stars endured a heavy slump throughout the month of March, going 4-8-4 and completely dashing what were once confident and realistic playoff hopes. Their offense couldn’t score outside of the top line, their defense slowly regressed as the month went on, and the team seemed to be tired and lacking any sort of confidence or motivation.
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Lehtonen had to fight through all of this and try to be a guiding light. And while he played well, he once again proved that he isn’t cut out for an extensive no. 1 starting role anymore. That period of his career has passed. Still, he is proving to be a valuable backup and gives Dallas a 1-2 punch between the pipes.
“Our goalies have been our best players the whole year,” said defenseman John Klingberg following the win over Minnesota on Mar. 31. “Both Kari [Lehtonen] and [Ben] Bishop have given us a chance to win every night.”
Now Kari has three more games to play before his five-year, $29.5 million contract runs out. And with Bishop not traveling with the team to California, it’s all but certain that Lehtonen will start in the final three games.
This is a prime (and final) opportunity for Kari Lehtonen to prove his worth and earn a new contract. At the age of 34, he still has a few more good years left before considering retirement. Those years could very well come in a Dallas Stars uniform if Lehtonen continues impressing.
He would need to take a pretty severe pay cut and would probably get a 1-2 year deal.
This last week may be meaningless in regards to the postseason, but it gives the Stars time to assess their future. One of those assessments is whether they re-sign Kari Lehtonen. He could be a valuable asset going forward and could give Dallas stability while they wait for their young goaltenders to develop.
San Jose, Anaheim, and Los Angeles all stand in Lehtonen’s way of turning in a four-game win streak to end the season. If he can pull it off, it could be yet another positive to list on his resume going into the offseason.
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And if Lehtonen continues to bring the same effort and success to the backup position on a financially stable deal, why wouldn’t Dallas want to bring him back?