Dallas Stars Could Make Unexpected Decisions With Dumba & Lyubushkin

The Dallas Stars went into this offseason with a lot of cap issues and some of those have been solved. There were many players, UFAs and RFAs, that needed to be re-signed and the team had little to no cap space. Mason Marchment was traded to the Seattle Kraken to clear a little bit of cap space and the Stars were able to sign Matt Duchene, Mavrik Bourque, and Nils Lundkvist. There is still much more that needs to get done.

The Stars were able to avoid losing a point-per-game player in Duchene to free agency and extended him on a very team-friendly deal. The team was also able to avoid any incoming offer sheets to Bourque that were likely coming if he wasn't signed by July 1. But Dallas has $2.75 million in projected cap space for next season with six UFAs still unsigned. All of those players won't be coming back, but if Dallas wants to even bring Jamie Benn back, more cap space has to be cleared.

Elliotte Friedman said that multiple sources told him to take Matt Dumba off the list of names that will be bought out this year as they think there could be trade possibilities for him. That cap hit of $3.75 million doesn't make it that easy, especially with the poor season Dumba just had.

Friedman also stated that the same sources revealed that they expect Ilya Lyubushkin to stay with the Stars as defensive depth is needed. Lundkvist being unable to play in the playoffs and Miro Heiskanen's injury have to be a part of that thinking. Lyubushkin has two years left on his deal at $3.25 million AAV and is more useful than Dumba for sure. Neither Dumba nor Lyubushkin have any sort of trade protection.

It will be interesting to see if the Stars can find a trade partner for Dumba and if the entire cap hit is moved. That would really help the Stars. A buyout guarantees that less cap space will be available to at least sign Benn. Mikael Granlund is more than likely gone with the money he'll demand due to his high level of play.