On Thursday, Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk took care of business by inking forward Jamie Benn -- the club’s lone All-Star last season -- to a five-year, $26.25 million deal.
Now, it’s onto the next thing.
Nieuwendyk told Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News his attention shifts to re-signing Derek Roy to a contract extension.
Roy, acquired from Buffalo in exchange for Steve Ott during the offseason, is in the final year of a six-year, $24 million deal.
“We’ll start that soon,” Nieuwendyk said when asked about a Roy contract extension. “He’s a smart, two-way player, and he’s only going to get better as he gets to know our team.
“It’s a priority for us.”
Roy is 29 (30 in May) and has two points in four games for the Stars this season, averaging 19:47 of ice time. At his peak, he was a solid scorer -- 81 points in 78 games in 2007-08 -- but has been on a steady slide ever since, scoring 70, 69, 35 (in 35 games mind you) and 44 points in the four seasons since.
That said, a large part of Roy’s struggles were due to a serious quadriceps tendon injury and slow recovery from it.
It sounds as though Roy will be part of the long-term plan in Dallas. Based on the cap numbers -- and the willingness of new owner Tom Gaglardi to spend money -- the Stars have invested a significant chunk of change in a core group featuring Benn, Alex Goligoski, Loui Eriksson, Trevor Daley and Kari Lehtonen, all signed through 2016.
Roy is a bit older than most of the group, but age hasn’t scared off Dallas in the past.
This summer, the Stars spent over $13 million to secure the services of 39-year-old Ray Whitney (for two years) and 40-year-old Jaromir Jagr (for one).