Dallas Stars: Three Poor Player Contracts Going Into 2018-19 Season
By Josh Clark
3. Marc Methot
Contract details: Four years, $4.9 million AAV (one year left)
The good thing about the Dallas Stars’ setup is that they aren’t particularly loaded with “bad” contracts. As a result, some of these selections come with a bit of a stretch to them.
Marc Methot is one of those stretches. And this one isn’t really on Nill or Methot.
In the week leading up to July 1, 2017, Nill took a chance to shore up his defense. The Stars had finished the 2016-17 with the second-highest goals against average in the NHL (3.17) and needed something to help change the tone and flip the script.
Hiring Ken Hitchcock as the new head coach proved to be a step in the right direction, but Nill doubled down and added a veteran blue liner as well.
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The Vegas Golden Knights traded Methot to Dallas less than two weeks after selecting him in the 2017 Expansion Draft. In return, the Stars gave up 2017 seventh-round pick Dylan Ferguson and a second-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.
The trade made sense for Dallas at the time. They needed a big, physical body for their relatively small defensive lineup that could be a threat behind the blue line and an asset to the penalty kill. Methot checked the boxes, so the Stars paid a decent price to pry the veteran away from a newly-built team.
But the payoff didn’t necessarily show up in 2017-18. And, as we mentioned above, a lot of that isn’t on no. 33.
Methot only played in 36 games during the season and missed over half the year due to a nagging knee problem. He had arthroscopic knee surgery in mid-November to repair the issue and was sidelined until early January while recovering.
But even after returning to the lineup, the 33-year-old still wasn’t at one hundred percent. He played in just one game against New Jersey in January before sitting out for another six weeks. And upon his second return, he only played in 20 more games through the final seven weeks of the season.
It was evident that Methot struggled in getting back to his regular form. In his previous five seasons with Ottawa, he averaged 21:17 on the ice. But in year one with Dallas, he skated an average of 17:53.
Dallas Stars
And in his absence, the Dallas Stars put on an impressive youth movement on the blue line. The defense’s performance remained consistent and even improved as the season rolled along. As a result, the youth movement for the Dallas defense looks to have arrived.
With his playing time limited, injuries weighing him down, and Hitchcock shifting him around the lineup, it was near impossible for Methot to establish himself. As a result, he had a subpar season.
He finished the year with one goal and three points, though he’s not known for being an offensive defender by any means. His hit totals were intact with 77 in the 36 contests and also put up an impressive +11.
But it’s difficult when the highest-paid defender and sixth-highest paid player on the roster can’t play for half of the season. And to top it all off, the Dallas Stars now know that they have a deep prospect pool on defense that is ready for full-time NHL action.
Methot can still be an asset on the Dallas defense and will be its oldest member this season. He’s a leader that can add a physical and shutdown dimension to the Stars’ blue line, so there’s definitely a spot for him to fill this year.
Whether he can play consistently or not will be up to him and his knee. But at almost five million per year, the Stars need him to be at his best, especially in a contract year.