Dallas Stars Take Next Step In Goaltending Future By Signing Colton Point

After years of mediocrity in net, the Dallas Stars have spent the past few drafts upgrading their goaltending crop. On July 1, they took the next step in building for the future by signing Colton Point to an entry-level deal.

The Dallas Stars are known for making major splashes and landing big-name players on July 1. It’s become a common thread in Jim Nill’s tenure as general manager.

The first day of free agency gives every NHL team a chance to right their wrongs from the previous season. And considering the Stars’ lack of success over the past few years, they are always looking to make improvements. Nill knows how to land top talent, but continues to struggle with putting it altogether in the regular season. You can’t doubt his incredible offseason success, though.

But that’s not necessarily what happened on this past July 1. In past summers, he’s landed names such as Ben Bishop, Alexander Radulov, Tyler Seguin, and Jason Spezza. Eight days ago, however, he didn’t sign any “elite” players. Instead, it was a matter or signing depth players to round out the Dallas Stars roster.

Those weren’t the only signings he pulled off, though. He also made moves to help round out the organization itself. Joel L’Esperance, a center for the Texas Stars and standout in the tail end of the 2017-18 season, signed a two-year, entry-level deal with the team.

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But the big prospect signing of the day was goaltender Colton Point, who signed a three-year, entry-level deal with an AAV of $925,000. It might seem like an under-the-radar signing, but this is a massively important step in the Stars’ goaltending development phase.

“Obviously, it’s a big step in every hockey player’s career to sign the first pro contract,” Point said shortly after the announcement. “I’m really excited for the opportunity that the Stars organization has given me and I’m just looking forward to keeping improving.”

The reason this is such an important step is that it’s been a long time since the Dallas Stars had a proper goaltending pipeline. Instead of drafting the right prospect and building him up in the crease, Dallas has instead spent the past few years recycling NHL goaltenders. While Dan Ellis, Tim Thomas, Anders Lindback, and Antti Niemi made their way through short stints as the Stars’ backup, there was no answer in their farm system.

Jack Campbell was expected to solve all of those problems after being drafted 11th overall by the Stars in 2011. But injuries and inconsistency prevented him from taking the next big step, leaving Dallas once again without a young goalie to develop.

Throughout last season, veteran Mike McKenna and Landon Bow shared the Texas Stars crease. Bow is still developing, but isn’t considered a top prospect at the moment and has a ways to go.

Meanwhile, Point is a former fifth-round pick from the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. He was also considered a bit of a long shot until his most recent season at Colgate University.

Point played 33 games with Colgate at the NCAA level in 2017-18, posting a .944 save percentage and 1.74 goals against average. It’s the ninth-best save percentage in NCAA men’s hockey history and was the best in the NCAA last season. His performance helped earned him a spot on Team Canada at the World Junior Championships and also finished in the running for the Hobey Baker Award for the top NCAA collegiate player. Considering he was playing on a below average Colgate squad, these numbers are nothing short of impressive.