Dallas Locks Down Alex Petrovic But Many More Free Agent Questions Remain for Texas Stars

Alex Petrovic (Credit: Andy Nietupski/Texas Stars)

The Dallas Stars put pen to paper on a few deals this week, including re-signing defender Alex Petrovic for another year and adding Matej Blumel out of Europe. Many unsigned players still remain.

With free agency coming up soon for the NHL and AHL alike, it has been relatively quiet compared to the typical summer. By mid-June, it is common to see at least a handful of Texas Stars signing contracts in Europe. Often these deals are signed and announced very near the conclusion of the season in April. This year, so far, not a single player who skated for the AHL's Stars this season has announced a departure for Europe.

Still there are many players who could jump, re-sign or head elsewhere in North America. Let's take a look.

Among NHL-contracted players, Dallas has some decisions to make, especially on RFAs. The deadline for qualifying offers is July 11 this summer. The Stars have eight players who are RFAs. I would tend to believe that Jim Nill qualifies almost everyone, as is his tendency. However, some players should probably be left unqualified, such as Colton Point, especially with Rémi Poirier on his way from the Q.

Here's the list of Dallas free agents:

UFA

• Joe Cecconi
• Joel L'Esperance
• Blake Comeau (DNP for Texas after assignment)

RFA

• Nick Caamano
• Ben Gleason
• Fredrik Karlstrom
• Jordan Kawaguchi
• Alexey Lipanov
• Colton Point
• Ryan Shea
• Riley Tufte

Meanwhile, almost every player on a Texas contract is a free agent, as is usually the case. The lone exception is Curtis McKenzie, who signed a two-year deal last summer.

Here are the Texas free agents:

• Jeremy Gregoire
• Matt Jurusik
• Michael Karow
• Anthony Louis
• Josh Melnick
• Matthew Murray

Elsewhere in the world, several former Texas Stars are on the top of the free agent pile this summer in the NHL. Jack Campbell is seeking a new deal after a strong season in Toronto. Reilly Smith's deal is up in Vegas. Originally, he signed a 5-year, $25M deal with Florida. Inexplicably to me, at least, this is going to be Smith's twelfth year in the NHL. Time keeps on slippin', as they say.