Stars Have Made Firm Decision On Ilya Lyubushkin

The Dallas Stars managed to maneuver this offseason with limited cap space and come out with a solid roster and $1 million to spare. They did this by signing players at good cap hits and moving others including players like Mason Marchment and Matt Dumba.

One player that was in trade rumors that the team might have had to move was Ilya Lyubushkin, but Dallas was always going to try to get rid of Dumba first. Elliotte Friedman said that "the Stars have no interest in moving Ilya Lyubushkin. They felt like he was a good depth player for them."

Lyubushkin acted more as a third pairing d-man last season, but will likely have to be counted on to play a larger role next season unless Nils Lundqvist takes a big step forward. There was Dumba and Cody Ceci to eat top-4 minutes on the right side last season. Neither of them remain on the team and it will be a test for Lyubushkin. He played well around the 17 ATOI mark, so playing him more might be risky and too much for the 31-year-old to handle.

Lyubushkin has a cap hit of $3.25 million AAV for two more years. While he might be safe right now, the Stars will really need the cap to go up and will have to work some magic with their roster again next season if they plan to keep Jason Robertson, pay Mavrik Bourque and Thomas Harley, and bring back Jamie Benn. Lyubushkin might be the best option to move in a year's time as there aren't many other options.

His cap hit is a little big for a third pairing d-man, but is solid for where he will likely be playing next season. While the Stars like Lyubushkin's game now, they will definitely have to judge how he plays with more minutes and hope others take steps forward so he doesn't have to be pushed out of his comfort zone.