Despite another valiant effort that reached the Western Conference finals, the Dallas Stars’ quest for another Stanley Cup is continuing for another season.
After falling to the Edmonton Oilers in six games over the summer, the Stars’ offseason featured some splashes in free agency, a bittersweet retirement and the return of a promising crop of young talent at the forefront of their push into the 2024-25 season.
Here’s everything Stars fans need to know about the past few months ahead of a new season at American Airlines Center:
Latest news
— Dallas Stars sign defenseman Thomas Harley to two-year contract
— Dallas Stars defenseman Esa Lindell agrees to five-year extension
— Stars announce official launch of Victory+ app where games will be streamed for free
— Five storylines for Stars’ 2024 camp: Replacing Joe Pavelski, Mavrik Bourque’s fit
Key dates
Stars training camp: Wednesday, Sept. 18 to Saturday, Sept. 21 in Frisco
First preseason game: Saturday, Sept. 21, vs. St. Louis at American Airlines Center (Full preseason schedule here.)
First regular season game: Thursday, Oct. 10 vs. Nashville at Bridgestone Arena (Full season schedule here.)
NHL draft
The Stars only had three picks in June’s draft, but that included a first-round pick, unlike in 2023. Dallas also had picks in the fifth and seventh rounds. Their second-round pick was traded away in the marquee Chris Tanev acquisition at the trade deadline, while the other selections were traded away in previous deals.
With their first-round pick, the Stars took Finnish forward Emil Hemming, and they hope to have the same late-first-round luck with him as they have with Wyatt Johnston and Jason Robertson.
Dallas selected another Finnish prospect with their first pick on Day 2, taking defenseman Niilopekka Muhonen with the 158th overall pick in the fifth round. With its final pick in the draft, Dallas selected center William Samuelsson, son of former NHL player Mikael Samuelsson, No. 222 overall in the seventh round.
Free agency
The Stars had just over $16 million in cap space heading into the offseason, 18th out of 32 NHL teams per PuckPedia. The young core of Miro Heiskanen, Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson is already signed for several more years, so this year’s free agency was about beefing up the supporting cast.
Names like Matt Duchene and Sam Steel signed new deals to return to the Stars.
The main additions? Multiple defensemen in the forms of Matt Dumba, Ilya Lyubushkin and others, plus a new backup in net.
The most notable subtractions? Joe Pavelski retired, Chris Tanev, Radek Faksa and Ty Dellandrea were traded and backup goalie Scott Wedgewood also found a new home.
Here’s a full recap of the offseason moves made in Dallas.
More offseason stories
— What can the Stars learn from the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers?
— Stars to induct Brenden Morrow, Jim Lites into team’s Hall of Fame
— The Stars had clear intentions to bolster their defense in free agency. How did they do?
— NHL, Fanatics reveal new uniforms for 2024-25 season
— 25 years later: Remembering Stars’ Stanley Cup win, and the wild parties that followed
