The Dallas Stars have added to the right side of their defense with the signing of Matt Dumba.
For a long time, the Dallas Stars have been desperate for right shot defensemen, and this offseason General Manager Jim Nill addressed that hole, signing right-handed defenseman Matt Dumba to a two-year deal worth $3.75 million per year.
Dumba most recently spent last season split between the Arizona Coyotes and the Tampa Bay Lightning. In 58 games with the Coyotes, Dumba recorded four goals and 10 points, and was a sought after trade deadline piece as that coveted right shot blue liner. After he was traded to the Lighting, Dumba only recorded a mere two points in 18 games, and Tampa was booted in the first round of the playoffs by the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers.
Before that, Dumba more notably made his mark with the Minnesota Wild, spending 10 seasons in a Wild sweater before moving on last year. Dumba was a part of two playoff series against the Dallas Stars, back in 2016 as the eighth seed and in 2023 as the third seed. Dumba drew the ire of Stars fans with a controversial hit on Joe Pavelski in Game 1 of the series in 2023, which knocked Pavelski out on the ice and kept him out for a significant portion of that playoff run.
Dumba has made a living making big hits and using a heavy slap shot from the blue line, but his play last season made skeptics of a lot of NHL experts. Most models predicted a value much lower than the $3.75 AAV that the Stars are paying him for the next two years, but that is the value of right handed defensemen in the league right now. Losing right handers Nils Lundkvist and Jani Hakanpaa made it almost a necessity to fill their two major holes on defense with a righty, and after several large contracts were handed out to the top right-handed options, Dumba was the most logical remaining solution.
If Dallas is able to get Dumba playing at a top-four level, the contract could look really good after one or both seasons, but if Dumba continues his decline, it is only a short-term struggle to overcome. Nill is reticent to overpay or give out too much term to any players he isn't fully convinced about, and rather risk a small or medium contract with the opportunity for a higher reward if everything goes as well as possible.
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