As much as people linger on the negatives after the Dallas Stars’ season ended with a thud, there are reasons for optimism.
One can find that if you look past the $10.4 million allocated to two under-performing goalies and notice the incredible bargains the Stars enjoy with some of their best players.
Seriously, other GMs probably weep with envy at this, especially since they might have made different decisions while building around this core:
Jamie Benn: $5.25 million cap hit through 2016-17
Tyler Seguin: $5.75M through 2018-19
John Klingberg - $4.25M through 2019-20
There are some other solid finds here or there (super-pest Antoine Roussel is a nice steal at $2M), but that trio is pretty staggering.
Of course, the Stars will eventually need to pay up, and that time will come soon in the case of Benn.
If you ask him, he’d like to make sure that issue doesn’t linger, as he told the Dallas Morning News.
“This is where I want to play, this is where I want to be,” Benn said. “I don’t think it’s going to be a problem.”
It really shouldn’t be too difficult, either.
The Stars see some contracts dissolve this summer, but the ones that expire (along with Benn’s current deal) after 2016-17 are likely most relevant.
Patrick Sharp’s $5.95M cap hit goes away, as does Ales Hemsky’s $4M mark. The Stars can make other calls, such as moving away from Johnny Oduya ($3.75M) if they feel as though age caught up with him.
Either way, the bitter pill of the Stars’ Game 7 meltdown is easier to swallow when you look on the bright side.
The Stars would be silly to waste a second in locking up their best player, especially with their other key guys on such thrifty deals.