Dallas Stars: Cap Space Rising Could Be Huge Advantage To Stars

Reports earlier in the 2017-18 season indicate that the NHL will raise the salary cap this offseason. That could serve as an incredible boost to the Dallas Stars and their summer plans.

The Dallas Stars have a lot of decisions to make in the 2018 offseason. After missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second straight season, another summer of change is imminent.

And those changes will come all around. There will be changes made using the prospect pool, changes made in management, and changes made with the coaching staff. But there will also likely be plenty of changes made to the roster. A lot of that comes with free agency.

With free agency comes discussions about the cap and whether the Stars have the space to do certain things. Do they have the space to bring in a certain player? Does a player on the roster need to be cut in order to make something else happen?  And what about players that need new deals?

There’s a lot to take in. When you look at the free agency situation for the Stars, there is even more to consider.

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The Dallas Stars have an interesting free agency situation to mull over in the coming months. While none of their pending free agents are necessarily “superstar” caliber, they all seem to have a valid argument to return. On top of that, some of their most promising pieces of the future need new deals, or at the very least need to be qualified.

On top of that, there is a large elephant to address in the Stars’ offseason negotiations: signing Tyler Seguin to a long-term extension. Though Seguin is under contract until July 1, 2019, the Stars can begin talking about a new deal with him this summer. And after hitting the 40-goal mark and reaching new heights in his career this past season, it would be in the team’s best interest to get a deal locked in sooner rather than later.

These are all tough decisions that need to be made by a team that ended the year with less than $1 million in cap space. Dallas played a dangerous game in the 2017 offseason when they nearly broke the bank re-signing young talent and reeling in big names like Ben Bishop, Alexander Radulov, and Martin Hanzal on new contracts.

For the 2017-18 season, the NHL set the league cap at $75 million. It’s been there ever since it was bumped up from $73 million after the 2015-16 season. The Stars got a little too close for comfort this past year, finishing with an estimated $74,544,308 spent, according to CapFriendly.

But now, it looks as though they may receive some saving grace just in the nick of time. At the end of the NHL’s Board of Governors meeting back in December, commissioner Gary Bettman pointed out that the salary cap would rise following the 2017-18 season. And this rising will not be a minor one, either.

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Bettman pointed out the league’s current marketability and prosperity and stated that the salary cap could be anywhere between $78 million and $82 million next season. That’s a sizable jump that could end up working wonders for the Dallas Stars.

It was a well known fact that Dallas needed plenty of breathing room with their cap space in the 2018 offseason when the season started. But now, it’s flat out obvious and more crucial than ever. Not only do the Stars have a handful of contracts to extend or negotiate, but they will also likely look into the free agent market to replace voids that are created.

That requires space, and the Stars don’t have a lot to go around.

When July 1 rolls around, Dallas will for sure take around $12.45 million off of the books in unrestricted free agent contracts. However many of those four free agents the Stars may re-sign and at what cost they will sign for remains a mystery, but it will at least give Dallas some negotiating room. But after they likely re-sign RFAs such as Mattias Janmark, Devin Shore, and Stephen Johns to new contracts, they might be back in a tricky spot.

That’s where an extra three million or five million will come in handy. A Tyler Seguin (who makes $5.75 million in his current deal) extension is near the top of GM Jim Nill’s list of priorities this offseason and he wants to make it happen as soon as possible.

“We can talk to him, so I’ll be talking to Tyler and his representatives,” Nill said on exit interview day. “I hope by July 1 we are going to know where it’s at. If something doesn’t happen July 1, I don’t want any panic out there. I’m banking on getting something done. I’m pretty confident that we will get something done.”

If you add another four million (or possibly more) onto Seguin’s current deal, that could make the cap space tricky. But not if Dallas has more space to work with.

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There is still a lot to delve into as the offseason rolls on and the Dallas Stars have plenty of decisions to make. But as it currently stands, this potential salary cap bump could be an incredible boost for the team at just the right time. The Stars are in an alright spot at the moment, but could greatly benefit as an entire organization from a bump up.

It’s always nice to stay away from the cap wall, after all.