Stars stay busy, sign RFAs Bourque, Lundkvist to one-year deals
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One day after clearing cap space by trading Mason Marchment, the Dallas Stars signed restricted free agents Mavrik Bourque and Nils Lundkvist to one-year contracts.
Bourque will earn $950,000 this season while Lundkvist, 24, will carry a salary of $1.25 million under his deal.
Bourque, 23, registered 11 goals and 25 points in 73 games this past season. He was originally selected by the Stars 30th overall in the 2020 Draft.
"Mavrik is a dynamic and highly skilled player whose vision and hockey IQ stand out every time he is on the ice," said Stars general manager Jim Nill said of the forward. "His ability to create plays and elevate the game is something we value deeply in such a young player. We are excited to have him back and confident he’ll continue to make a significant impact for our team."
Lundkvist, a Pitea, Sweden native was originally selected in the first round (28th overall) by the New York Rangers in the 2018 NHL Draft. He was acquired by the Stars in 2022 in exchange for two conditional draft picks.
In 183 career NHL games with the Rangers and Stars, Lundkvist has recorded nine goals and 35 assists.
Lundkvist represented Sweden at 2018 IIHF U-18 World Championship, the 2019 and 2020 World Junior Championships and the 2021 World Championship.
Can the Stars keep captain Benn?
The Stars started their off-season on Thursday, signing Matt Duchene to a four-year deal carrying an average annual of $4.5 million.
That deal left Dallas with less than $500,000 in cap space before Marchment was traded to the Seattle Kraken for two draft picks, clearing $4.5 million.
After locking up their two pending restricted free agents Friday, the Stars have $2.76 million in cap space remaining with 18 players under contract for next season, per Puckpedia.
Captain Jamie Benn headlines the list of pending unrestricted free agents for the Stars, with Evgenii Dadonov, Mikael Granlund, Colin Blackwell, Cody Ceci and Brendan Smith also currently slated to hit the open market.
Benn said earlier this month he wants to return to the Stars, despite struggling to produce in the postseason.
“I’m gonna go into the summer planning on playing next year and prepare like I do every summer,” Benn said during the team's locker room cleanout. “I don’t see myself going anywhere else. This is all I know, so hopefully we can get something figured out.”
Benn is coming off an eight-year, $76 million contract that carried an average annual value of $9.5 million. The 35-year-old forward had 16 goals and 49 points in 80 games during the regular season before struggling mightily in the playoffs. He finished with just one goal and three points in 18 games while averaging 13:05 of ice time in the postseason.
The Stars exited the playoffs in the Western Conference Final for the third straight season last month.