Dallas Signs Hellberg, Texas Signs Looft; Update on Jerad Rosburg

Magnus Hellberg with Milwaukee for a game at Texas on March 14, 2015
(Credit: Christina Shapiro/Texas Stars)

A smattering of news from the last few days here as we make our way through the slowest part of the schedule for hockey.

First of all, the Dallas Stars announced last week that they had signed goalie Magnus Hellberg to a one-year, two-way deal. Hellberg, who is probably most familiar to Texas fans for his time with Milwaukee ten years ago, brings some NHL experience to Cedar Park.

It appears likely that Hellberg, being on a two-way, will be the third goalie in the organization behind Oettinger and DeSmith. Betting on goalie health is almost always a losing game, so it makes sense that Dallas bolstered the backend with a second backup possibility.

As Dallas AGM and Texas GM Scott White often says, it's up to the players to force the team to make roster moves. For today, that means Remi Poirier needs to have an outstanding year to get that chance to vault Hellberg and make it to the third spot on the depth chart. This also implies that Idaho will get Ben Kraws to go with the newly-resigned Tomas Sholl and AHL-contracted Bryan Thomson.

In other news, defenseman Kyle Looft, who joined Texas late last year on an ATO, has signed an AHL contract with Texas for the coming season. For those who know the Stars well, this is no surprise. ATO players who perform as well as Looft did to end the year often find themselves with an AHL contract to Texas for the coming season, and it's usually announced in the dead of August.

Finally, 100 Degree Hockey reached out to Jerad Rosburg's agent this week to check in on the former Texas defender. Rosburg, who was supposed to be a key veteran for the Stars last season, did not play a single game in the 2023-24 season.

"[Rosburg] is rehabbing from an off-season surgery and working towards a comeback this season," said Brian Bartlett when reached via email this week. "He won't be ready for the start of the season so his focus is getting back healthy and then we will evaluate options at that time based on how he is feeling and which teams have a need."

It is entirely possible that Texas is one of those teams, but there will surely be many factors at play.