Dallas Stars News

The Stars have had a spread-out schedule to begin the 2025-26 season and will roll with Oettinger between the pipes for a third straight contest on Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild. Oettinger and the Stars are 2-0-0 to start the season, but have faced some adversity defensively. The 26-year-old netminder has a 3.84 GAA and .875 SV% through two games. Dallas enters its home opener on Tuesday as -189 home favorites against a Minnesota team that played last night and defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-3 in a shootout.

Back has not played yet in 2025-26 but appears to be nearing his return to the lineup after practicing on Monday. The 25-year-old Back made his NHL debut last season, scoring 16 points (4G / 12A) in 73 games in a fourth-line role with Dallas.

Motivated to make a case for Team USA's starting goalie at the Olympics, Oettinger will be hard-pressed to showcase his talents this season, beginning with a season-opening matchup against the current favourite for Team USA, Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets. The 26-year-old Oettinger posted a 2.59 GAA and .909 SV% in 58 games last season (36-18-4) but will need to elevate his game to materialize his goals. Dallas enters the matchup as slight -109 road favorites against Winnipeg.

Hryckowian had a strong preseason, recording one goal, two assists, five shots, and eight hits in five games. He was initially assigned to the AHL for cap-related reasons, but returns to the NHL roster after Jamie Benn and Oskar Back were placed on IR. Hryckowian ranked second on the Stars' AHL affiliate in scoring last season with 60 points (22G, 38A) in 67 games.

Benn suffered a collapsed lung after a hit during a preseason game and is expected to be reevaluated at the end of October. The 36-year-old is entering his 17th NHL season and has only missed two games across the previous four years. In 2024-25, he had 16 goals, 49 points and 70 PIMs in 80 games played.

Dallas will be without their captain for an extended period after it was announced Thursday that Jamie Benn will undergo surgery for a collapsed lung and will be reevaluated in four weeks. The 36-year-old is entering his 17th NHL season and has only missed two games across the previous four years. In 2024-25, he had 16 goals, 49 points and 70 PIMs in 80 games played.

Benn missed practice on Tuesday with an upper-body injury and is considered day-to-day as the Stars begin their preseason schedule. The injury is not expected to be serious, and the 35-year-old is expected to be ready for his 17th career opening night when Dallas starts their season on October 9th in Winnipeg. Benn will look to bounce back from a down season in 2024-25, after he put up 16 goals and 49 points in 80 games played.

After an impressive first campaign with Red Deer in the WHL, Jaxon Fuder has earned himself a three-year, entry-level contract with Dallas after going undrafted last season. The 19-year-old forward is expected to return to Red Deer for a sophomore campaign in 2025-26, where he had 11 goals, 26 points and 91 PIMs in 46 games played.

Kiviranta had a solid 2024-25 season with the Avalanche, posting 16 goals with seven assists (23 points) in 79 games while posting a plus-15 rating and 114 hits. Kiviranta returns to Colorado, where he will likely continue to serve in the bottom-6 role that saw him average 12:31 TOI/gm last season.

Dallas has signed their 2024 5th round draft pick (158th overall), Niilopekka Muhonen to a three-year, entry-level contract on Tuesday. The 19-year-old Finnish defenseman spent 2024-25 in Medicine Hat (WHL) after being selected in 1st round of the CHL import draft and had four goals, 17 points and a +20 plus/minus in 60 games played.

The Dallas Stars traded Faksa's $3.25 million cap-hit to the St. Louis Blues in the previous offseason. After spending a season with the Blues, scoring 15 points (5G / 10A) in 70 games, he returns to the Stars on a three-year, $2 million AAV contract. The Stars drafted Faksa 13th overall in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

Despite free agency opening up, Dallas has secured forward Colin Blackwell for two more seasons after he signed a two-year, $1.55 million contract ($775,000 AAV) on Tuesday. The 32-year-old forward will provide Dallas with much-needed bottom-six depth in 2025-26 after posting six goals and 17 points in 63 games played last season while averaging just 11:34 TOI.

Dallas' captain will return for a 17th season with the organization after it was announced Thursday that the Stars had agreed to a one-year, $1 million contract with Jamie Benn. The contract is full of bonuses, which could reach as high as $4 million AAV if all are achieved by the end of the season. In 80 games in 2024-25, the 35-year-old veteran had 15 goals, 49 points and 70 PIMs while holding down a bottom-six role.

Lundkvist missed the last 35 games of the 2024-25 campaign due to shoulder surgery but has earned himself a one-year, $1.25 million contract extension to remain with the Stars on Friday. The 24-year-old defenseman will enter his fifth NHL season in 2025-26 after putting up five assists, 20 PIMs and a +4 plus/minus in 39 games played last season.

After two incredibly successful seasons in Dallas, Matt Duchene has decided to stay a Star after signing a four-year, $18 million contract extension ($4.5 million AAV) on Thursday. The 34-year-old is coming off a point-per-game campaign, during which he scored 30 goals and 82 points in 82 games played in the 2024-25 season. The veteran forward is entering his 17th NHL season.

Dallas signed their second depth goalie of the day on Tuesday after they extended their AHL starter Remi Poirier, to a two-year, two-way contract. The 23-year-old was originally Dallas' 2020 6th-round pick (185th overall) and spent the 2024-25 season with Texas (AHL), where he put up a 17-11-2 record, .908 SV% and 2.50 GAA.

Poirier spent the entire season with Texas (AHL), where he went 17-11-2 with a 2.50 GAA and .908 SV% in 31 games. Poirier served as Texas' No.1 netminder in the AHL playoffs, going 5-3 with a 2.19 GAA and .919 SV%. Expect him to start the 2025-26 season in the AHL again.

Back will take a seat on Thursday as the Stars look to shake things up with their season on the line. Mavrik Bourque will draw into the lineup in his place.