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Decision day in Dallas: Rome to be bought out, Fiddler going UFA

AaronRomeDallas

A pair of veterans are on their way out of Dallas.

On Monday, the Stars waived defenseman Aaron Rome for the purpose of enacting a compliance buyout -- their first, and the first of this year’s window -- and had their contract offer to forward Vern Fiddler rejected.

According to TSN’s Bob McKenzie, the Stars believe Fiddler is headed to free agency.

As for Rome, the buyout marks the end of a disappointing tenure in Dallas. Signed by ex-GM Joe Nieuwendyk in 2012, Rome got a relatively hefty three-year, $4.5 million deal despite the fact he’d never appeared in more than 56 games in a season.

Known mostly for his devastating hit on Nathan Horton during the ’11 Stanley Cup Final -- and subsequent four-game suspension -- Rome spent the majority of his time in Dallas dealing with foot, hip and other lower-body injuries, appearing in just 52 of a possible 130 regular-season games over the last two years.

With the buyout, the Stars will be freed of Rome’s $1.5 million cap hit and pay him $533,333 in salary over each of the next two seasons.

As for Fiddler, it’s not surprising he wants to test free agency. Reports surfaced during the year he was unhappy with his role in Dallas and, at one point, requested a trade. What’s more, this year’s free agent class is pretty thin -- on Sunday, Edmonton GM Craig MacTavish said “it’s a good year to be a UFA,” -- and Fiddler, a versatile center who won 52 percent of his draws last year, could garner interest from teams looking for depth down the middle.