Stars D Ilya Lyubushkin reveals why he left Maple Leafs

One of the Dallas Stars’ key additions for the 2024-25 NHL season was defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin, who signed a three-year, $9.75 million deal with the team after splitting last season between the Anaheim Ducks and a second stint with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

And as Lyubushkin explained, he chose to move on from the Leafs because he felt their contract offer lacked enthusiasm, via Russian media outlet ICE.

“We couldn’t agree on the terms,” he says (translated from Russian). “The club was interested, as always in such cases. After the season ends, there’s an exit meeting with the general manager.”

“They made it clear: ‘We want to keep you, and we’ll negotiate with your agent.’ But once negotiations started, I didn’t feel any strong desire from their side,” he continued. “They said they wanted to keep me, but the terms weren’t acceptable. Both in terms of duration and money, it was very difficult.”

Lyubushkin is excited to join fellow Russian Evgeni Dadonov on the Stars and was in contact with him shortly after signing with the Stars. He also shared that he spoke with other Russian players who previously played for the Stars, all of whom had positive experiences with the team.

“We’ve talked already,” he said of Dadonov. But I actually know more about the organization not from him, but from Denis Gurianov and Valery Nichushkin. They all said in unison that it’s a great organization. All the guys loved it there in terms of life, playing, the team, the group, and the organization.”

Lyubushkin and the Stars have one remaining exhibition game on their schedule, a Thursday night matchup against the St. Louis Blues before they open the regular season on October 10 on the road against the Nashville Predators.

Ilya Lyubushkin joins his fifth NHL club