The Dallas Stars signed Tyler Seguin to a contract extension on Thursday, which is already fantastic news. The way they did it - and some of the details - make it even better.
Especially greedy (and honestly, probably unrealistic) Stars fans would’ve hoped that Seguin would sign at or below Jamie Benn’s $9.5 million cap hit. That didn’t happen, yet Seguin isn’t the Stars’ most expensive signing by much. The team announced that it’s an eight-year extension that carries a $9.85M AAV.
“It was a process, a learning process this summer — learning the whole side of business negotiations,” Seguin said. “But at the end of the day, I knew where I wanted to be, I knew where home was and that was here in Dallas.”
Honestly, the best part really might be the way they announced it. The team did an extended riff on NES-era Super Mario, with the key exception being that His Extension Is Not At Another Castle.
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) September 13, 2018
Bravo, Stars.
(You may ask: “Bravo for the terms of the deal or the presentation?” The answer, of course, is both.)
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman notes that Seguin’s contract features a full no-movement clause:
Seguin becomes a key part of some significant long-term investments in Dallas:
Seguin, 26 ($9.85M through 2026-27)
Benn, 29: ($9.5M through 2024-25)
Alexander Radulov, 32 ($6.25M through 2021-22)
Ben Bishop, 31 ($4.917M through 2022-23)
John Klingberg, 26 ($4.25M through 2021-22)
The Stars saw Benn’s bargain $5.25M cap hit end after 2016-17, while Seguin will enter 2017-18 on the final year of his own steal of a $5.75M cap hit. With that, the last remaining super-deal is that of Klingberg, who’s essentially an $8-9M defenseman making $4.25M in AAV.
Can the Stars finally deliver on their immense potential now that (almost) everyone’s gotten paid? That’s the burning question, but at least Dallas doesn’t have to worry about a John Tavares situation, or anything like what the Columbus Blue Jackets are dealing with regarding Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky.
Want an extra helping of joy, Stars fans? Let’s end with Seguin and puppies:
—
James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.