Stars Pause Contract Talks With Pending Free Agents

The Dallas Stars enter this season chasing the Stanley Cup that's eluded them for the past several years, but their situation behind the scenes may be even more intriguing.

Multiple key players are entering the final year of their contracts, most notably captain Jamie Benn and star goaltender Jake Oettinger. Dallas should have plenty of cap space next offseason, but keeping everyone around will still prove challenging.

It seems that's a future problem for the Stars, though. Recently, general manager Jim Nill told the Dallas Morning News that contract talks with both Benn and Oettinger are on hold, but for different reasons.

For Benn, who's entering the final season of an eight-year $76 million deal ($9.5 million AAV) signed in 2016, it's a personal choice to put the upcoming season above his own contract. However, Nill wants to keep the 35-year-old in Dallas as long as he possibly can.

“I asked him, ‘Do you want to start talking about two years down the road yet?’ He was very clear: ‘Jim, I just want to win this year and make decisions from there.’” Nill said. “He’s all in with the team. It’s a little bit of Joe Pavelski’s theory of wait and see what are the needs of the team and how can I help out.

“My plan, as long as I’m the GM here, he’s going to be a Dallas Star. He’s earned that right. I think the first thing is: are they still performing at the level they should be? And Jamie’s done that.”

For Oettinger, who's entering the final season of a three-year, $12 million deal ($4 million AAV) signed in 2022, its' a matter of waiting for the goalie market to settle. Boston Bruins restricted free agent Jeremy Swayman is in an ugly dispute with his team, while New York Rangers star Igor Shesterkin will likely command the largest goalie contract in NHL history after this season. Oettinger won't make that much, but a market reset could help nail down his value.

“We’re going to talk to Jake. There’s still some contracts out there to be signed, which are going to affect that. So really, no rush for that to happen,” Nill said. “Really any of our RFAs, we’re going to talk to them and just say, ‘Are you interested in signing or do you want to wait and see what the market is?’”

The Stars open the regular season on the road against the Nashville Predators on Oct. 10.