Insider Says Stars Will Be Linked To 2 High-Class Names Again

The Dallas Stars are running at the salary cap, but that doesn't mean everything isn't being done to get better each season. While there was plenty of talent in 2024-25 and a fair number of players had to take very team-friendly deals or move on, next season is going to be just as tough, without adding any more key pieces.

RFAs include Jason Robertson, Thomas Harley, Mavrik Bourque, and Nils Lundkvist, while Jamie Benn will be a UFA once again. With all of those players set to make more, that will take up the rest of the remaining salary cap, so someone else will have to be traded or bought out.

Jeff Marek said that the Dallas Stars' name is going to be attached to Nazem Kadri again and it's going to be attached to Rasmus Andersson again as well.

Andersson has been a known target of the Stars for a while now as he isn't going to stay with the Calgary Flames past 2025-26 and Dallas really need a capable top-4 right-shot defenseman. While Miro Heiskanen has been forced to play his off side, Ilya Lyubushkin and Lundkvist are both third pairing talents for a Stanley Cup contending team. Andersson isn't going to come cheap in a trade and the cap won't be easy to fit in.

Kadri is a very interesting one. He is a center and is going to keep playing center, but there are plenty of other teams around the NHL that could do more with Kadri, could fit him in easier, and are more desperate for someone in that role. The veteran has four years left at $7 million AAV, so even with retention, a lot has to happen for the Stars to pull that one off.

Dallas has Wyatt Johnston, Roope Hintz, and Matt Duchene, all for at least the next four seasons. This one doesn't make as much sense to me unless Tyler Seguin is going to be bought out of the final year of his deal next offseason and the team is somehow able to get a little more team-friendly deals for the RFAs that will have to sign before next season.