Stars Sign D-man Harley To Contract Extension, Finalize Dallas' Roster For This Season

Dallas Stars D-man Thomas Harley signed a two-year deal Tuesday, and Adam Proteau says Stars GM Jim Nill has done a terrific job once again.

The Dallas Stars locked up their final piece of the puzzle Tuesday night, signing RFA defenseman Thomas Harley to a two-year, $8-million contract with an average annual value of $4-million. The Harley signing came on the heels of another Stars signing Tuesday – this one involving veteran D-man Esa Lindell, who signed a contract extension worth $5.25-million per season.

Harley had a breakout year last season, posting 15 goals and 47 points in 79 games. The 23-year-old Harley averaged 21:01 of ice time per game last year, second only to star blueliner Miro Heiskanen. And Harley also led the Stars in plus-minus (plus-28) and he ranked second in blocked shots (135).

This coming season, Harley is likely to join forces with Heiskanen to form Dallas’ top defense pairing. More importantly, Harley’s high panic threshold, combined with his ability to generate offense on top of his defensive duties, made him a must-have for Stars GM Jim Nill. There was no way the team was going to push on Harley financially, and this new deal, while not exactly breaking the bank, was a sufficient raise that doesn’t eat into Harley’s unrestricted free agency time. Harley will be an RFA again when this deal expires in the summer of 2026, and by then, some of the Stars’ more onerous financial deals will be off the team’s salary cap books.

We said it earlier today, but Nill deserves a lot of the credit with this latest signing, as it establishes a not-all-that-expensive salary ceiling within the team. Lindell took a pay cut to sign his extension Tuesday, and if Harley really wanted to leave Dallas, he easily could’ve landed an offer sheet from another team. 

But Harley knows the opportunity he gets with the Stars makes him extremely fortunate. He can stay out of the limelight in a city that won’t make him live in a fishbowl, and he can work on his individual game without much, if any spotlight in sports-mad Dallas.

With Harley’s new contract Tuesday, the Stars have only $693,759 in available salary cap space. That will allow them to pick up a depth player at some point in the regular season, with Harley now on board, Nill’s roster is complete. And while it took nearly until the first day of training camp to get everybody locked up, the Stars can focus only on hockey and embark on the beginning of the new journey together. 

Lindell and Harley are signing for the next two seasons, and along with star Miro Heiskanen, they have what it takes to make Dallas an odds-on Stanley Cup favorite. The money they saved with these two contracts will be money spent on other players to come and play in Dallas, and that culture of sacrifice is why the Stars are near the top of the NHL pyramid.

Thank you for reading this story. And you're welcome to join the growing Dallas Stars community on THN.com and bookmark THN's Dallas Stars site for all the latest Stars news, exclusive interviews, and much more.