Projecting the Stars: Sam Steel

In advance of the 2024-25 NHL regular season, The Hockey News’ Dallas Stars team website is introducing a series of player projections for the Dallas Stars. Yesterday we left off with Matt Duchene and Mason Marchment, next up is Sam Steel.

Sam Steel could not find a permanent home in Minnesota in his prior stop, but Dallas took a chance on the young penalty kill specialist on a one-year deal last season. After starting the year off with several early season scratches, Steel showed he deserved a permanent spot on the much-improved fourth line and became important enough to re-sign for a slight bump in pay this season. Can he recapture his shorthanded magic and provide the fourth line the same stability with the departure of linemates Radek Faksa and Craig Smith?

Career: 43 goals, 117 points in 339 games

2023-24 Statistics: 9 goals, 24 points in 77 games

Salary Cap Hit: $1.2 million through 2024-25

Summary of 2023-24 Season: Steel was an unexpected pick up during free-agency for the Stars, but the Stars were looking to add someone who could fill their rotating fourth-line/extra forward spot. However, by the end of the season, Steel was one of the Stars best penalty killers. Not only did he anchor a Dallas penalty kill that finished eighth in the league in penalty killing with an 82% kill rate, he also contributed two shorthanded goals. He also proved to be versatile enough to move up and down the lineup when needed due to injuries and holes that needed to be filled. Steel became the most valuable player on the fourth line, and is the only player of the four regulars (Faksa, Smith and Ty Dellandrea) to continue his tenure with the Stars.

Projections for 2024-25 Season: This season, Steel will be expected once again to be a stalwart on the penalty kill. However, after Dellandrea was traded to the San Jose Sharks, Faksa was traded to the St. Louis Blues and Smith signed with the Chicago Blackhawks in free agency, he will have to create chemistry with new faces. It's possible that the fourth line has more offensive talent than last year, but it is extremely hard to predict who will round out those final two spots. Training camp will most likely dictate who Steel has to work with, and if the versatile forward will play center or wing on the line. Steel's production is possibly the hardest to predict among the returning forwards because of the question marks surrounding him, but it shows his value that the fourth line will be built around his guaranteed presence. Even if he stays around average production, about 10 goals and 25 points, he will add more scoring to the fourth line than any teams had before Pete DeBoer became head coach. If he clicks with his new linemates, he could set a new career high in points and finish with over 30 points on the year. 

Make sure you bookmark THN's Dallas Stars site for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.

Projecting the Stars: Mason Marchment

Projecting the Stars: Matt Duchene

Projecting The Stars: Roope Hintz

Projecting the Stars: Jason Robertson

• undefined