Following Dallas Contract, Texas Stars Add Niklas Hansson on ATO

The Dallas Stars have signed defenseman Niklas Hansson to an entry-level contract which will start next season. In a corresponding move, Hansson signed an amateur tryout with the Texas Stars. He is not expected in Austin until next week.

Hansson was on the list of potential ATO additions that I did in early March. The recent, and arguably permanent, subtraction of Stephen Johns makes it more likely he will play but it's still not a certain bet. I wouldn't expect him to play a ton of games down the stretch as Texas gears up for playoffs.

Here's the release:

Dallas Stars General Manager Jim Nill announced today that the club has signed defenseman Niklas Hansson to a three-year entry-level contract beginning in the 2016-17 season. Hansson has also signed an amateur tryout agreement (ATO) for the remainder of the season with the Texas Stars, Dallas' top development affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL), and is scheduled to report to Texas next week. Per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Hansson, 21, registered 22 points (7-15=22) in 44 regular-season games with HV71 of the Swedish Hockey League, the highest division of professional hockey in Sweden. He finished tied for eighth among all SHL defensemen with seven goals and shared 12th with 22 points, pacing team blueliners in both categories. Hansson also shared first among team defensemen and fourth among all team skaters with 15 assists this season.

The 6-foot-1, 180-pound native of Helsingborg, Sweden was originally selected by Dallas in the third round (68th overall) of the 2013 NHL Draft.