Dallas Stars Sign Remi Elie to a One-Year Extension
By Summer LeBel
The Dallas Stars have signed left wing Remi Elie to a one-year contract extension worth $735,000.
The Dallas Stars gave the 2013 second-round pick a qualifying offer last week along with six other restricted free agents. The club still has to work out deals for Devin Shore, Gemel Smith, Jason Dickinson, Mattias Janmark, Dillon Heatherington, and Philippe Desrosiers.
Elie had 6 goals and 8 assists last year in the 72 games he played with the Dallas Stars. He also played in 18 games during the 2016-17 season, spending the rest of the year with the Texas Stars.
The Stars struggled with depth scoring last year and Elie didn’t put up great numbers, ranking with the bottom of the forwards. Keeping Elie around doesn’t improve that issue, but the contract isn’t expensive and not every forward is going to be a flashy goal scorer.
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Elie was picked 40th overall in his draft class but that was before he played part of his career in juniors in Erie, spending time on a line with Connor McDavid. He only played 28 regular season games with the Otters but he he 16 goals and 26 assists. He hasn’t put up numbers anything close to that in his time in Dallas or in Austin, but that’s unsurprising, considering the linemates he’s playing with instead of McDavid and Dylan Strome.
He’s spent most of his time with the Dallas Stars on the fourth line, but he did spend a fair amount of time as a top six forward while Ken Hitchcock shuffled lines last year. That time with top tier linemates didn’t do much to improve his numbers, but it gave him good experience.
Despite his lack of production on the scoresheet, Elie’s a hardworking player who has shown potential. Potential’s not something quantifiable and he’ll have to show some production over the next year if he wants another extension. He’s got some work to do, but he’s making strides in the right direction.
He had 101 hits last year, which was good considering his ice time. He’s a physical guy and with the loss of players like Greg Pateryn and Antoine Roussel, his hitting will be in demand. He had 70 shots, which was low compared to other forwards playing as many games as he did, but again not atrocious when factoring in his ice time.
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Given the experience of his first full season in the NHL under his belt and slightly higher ice time, he has the potential to really flourish next season. He’ll have to earn that ice time as the season progresses and prove himself. If he does, he’ll likely earn himself a bigger extension next summer, but the contract is short and affordable for the club if he doesn’t.