Around the League: Stars Re-Sign the Captain, Lose Others

Sean Backman in the 2011 Calder Cup Playoffs (Credit: Chris Jerina/AHL in Photos)

The Stars had a few player transactions in the past couple of days. Yesterday at 5 PM EST was the deadline for teams to extend qualifying offers to restricted free agents. Dallas had only two RFAs who had not previously signed, Sean Backman and Guillaume Monast. Neither was extended a qualifying offer. Colton Sceviour and Richard Bachman were previously re-signed.

Monast has been picked up by the Sanguenay Marquis of the LNAH two weeks ago, according to this article. His professional career will continue in the province of Quebec.

It was also not expected that Sean Backman would be extended a qualifying offer. Backman, a free agent pickup last year out of Yale, had seven goals and sixteen assists in 67 games for Texas. I don't imagine that his professional career is over; he will likely get a shot at an AHL or ECHL contract elsewhere. It is not out of the realm of possibility that such an offer comes from Texas.

In other news, the captain is back. Brad Lukowich broke the news on his own Twitter feed last night. Details of the contract were not immediately available, but Lukowich's comments later in the evening implied the contract was two-way.

Elsewhere:
  • It has been widely reported that some of the affiliation shuffling is almost done with Portland and the Coyotes signing a five-year affiliation agreement this week. Vancouver and Chicago also paired up, leaving just two dance partners: San Antonio and Florida.

  • Tony Uminski, beat writer for the Rampage, is not happy about the potential affiliation with the Panthers. He points out that the Rochester Americans missed the playoffs in four of their six year with the Panthers. Additionally, there is a little bit of bad blood from the last time the two were affiliated. It's best to just hear him explain it all. [Rampage with Tony U.]

  • The Houston Aeros are full speed ahead on their coaching search, narrowing things down to three: Trent Yawney, Gary Agnew or Ryan McGill. [The Third Intermission]

  • The Dallas Stars development camp will be this weekend, July 1st through 7th, at the Stars Center in McKinney. Details will surely be forthcoming on the Stars website, but usually the event is open to the public. [ESPN Dallas]

Comments