Today was a day of mixed emotions for some fans today. Fans down in Cedar Park our rejoicing that the Dallas Stars resigned goaltender Matt Murray to a one-year, two-way contract. Others were sad as we said goodbye to a fan favorite Fredrik Olofsson A.K.A Freddie O. Olofsson was traded to the Colorado Avalanche for future considerations down the road in the future. Let’s take a look at each of these transactions that happened today and what that means for the franchise moving forward.
Dallas Stars trade Fredrik Olofsson to the Colorado Avalanche
This transaction was a complete head-scratcher just not for me but for other fans. Olofsson was a very good fourth-line center that played well when he was called up from Cedar Park. In my personal opinion, it wouldn’t have hurt to keep him around for a couple more seasons.
As we progressed throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the one thing the Stars were lacking was some physicality throughout the lineup. When Freddie was in the lineup in the playoffs, his physicality was the reason the Stars won some of their playoff games.
The Stars could have easily moved on from Joel Kiviranta and plugged Olofsson into his place on the fourth line. I understand some fans have an emotional attachment to Kiviranta, especially after the 2020 Stanley Cup run, but we need physicality in this lineup. I wish Freddie O the best in Colorado except when we play him next season.
Dallas Stars resign Matt Murray for another season
There was a lot of chatter surrounding the third goalie situation after Dallas Stars Head Coach Pete DeBoer wouldn’t play Murray when Scott Wedgewood got hurt. Some people thought that the Stars would have started looking at the AHL goalie market to replace him. However, the Stars are giving him another year trying to cement himself as the third goalie on this team. With the signing, the Stars have two minor league goaltenders for next season under contract.
The Stars need to find two backups goalies for their minor league teams this offseason. With backup Dylan Wells (UFA) and Adam Scheel still not signed for next season (RFA with arbitration rights), we could possibly see some new goaltender faces in our minor league system for the 2023-24 season.
I think that both Murray and Poirier will be your Texas Stars goalies for next season. That leaves filling both goaltender spots for the Idaho Steelheads. We will see what the Stars do with the minor league goalies down the road this summer or near training camp.