Dallas Stars Sign Philippe Desrosiers to a One-Year Extension
By Summer LeBel
The Dallas Stars have extended Philippe Desrosiers for another year on a two-way contract.
Last season, Desrosiers spent most of the year with the Idaho Steelheads, the ECHL affiliate of the Dallas Stars.
Desrosiers is the latest RFA to sign a deal with the Stars, with Stephen Johns, Remi Elie, and Jason Dickinson all getting deals in the last few weeks. Dillon Heatherington still needs a deal from the Dallas Stars as well, and he’ll do so without filing for arbitration.
The Stars have three players who elected to file for arbitration: Mattias Janmark, Devin Shore, and Gemel Smith. Their dates were also announced this morning, though they may make a deal before then. Shore will have his hearing early in the arbitration schedule on July 20, Smith’s will be on August 1, and Janmark will wait until August 3.
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Desrosiers’ signing won’t make an impact on the NHL season next year, barring things going horribly wrong, but he’ll potentially be competing for an AHL job. With Mike McKenna signed in Ottawa, the battle for AHL goaltending duties will fall to Desrosiers, Landon Bow and Colton Point. Bow spent last season in the AHL and will likely be the starter next season, while Point was in the NCAA all year.
While with the Steelheads last season, Desrosiers went 23-9-3. He also backstopped the team for their playoff run. They defeated the Allen Americans in a reverse sweep 4-3 series before being swept themselves in the second round by the eventual champs, the Colorado Eagles.
Desrosiers only has 20 AHL games under his belt which are spread out over the last four seasons. If he makes it to the AHL next year on a regular basis, it’ll likely be as the back-up. If that’s the case, he may be better off in the ECHL so he can get playing time and continue to develop.
Developing goaltenders is always a challenge and drafting them often involves a lot of guesswork, so it’s hard to say what the potential is for Desrosiers in the long-term, but there’s not a downside to a signing like this. He’s put up good numbers in the ECHL, including a .934 save percentage and 2.00 goals against average in last year’s playoffs.
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He’s still only 22 and has a lot of time to develop. A small one-year, two-way contract is perfect for his situation as the Stars work to figure out their goalie pipeline.