Locking down a versatile top-six forward, Dallas bets on chemistry and grit to anchor their powerhouse top line while securing a high-value bargain against the rising cap.
After a tumultuous off-season of negotiations with top players, the Dallas Stars have extended one of their top six forwards to four more years with the team.
Sam Steel has signed for a $3.7 million average, with his new deal kicking in next season. Steel, a first round draft pick of the Anaheim Ducks, has found a role on the top line with What Johnston and Mikko Rantanen. He featured alongside the two most often last season and appears to be back in that spot again during training camp this year.
His presence with the two has been highly debated, and the Stars could certainly do better to find more of an elite talent to play with the two superstars, but head coach Glen Gulutzan likes to construct his forward lines by having a hard worker mixed in a pair of elite players.
Steel finished with 12 goals and 21 assists last season and it would be safe to say that a lack of improvement would be nothing short of a disaster if he is going to spend the season with two of the best players in the entire league. His best fit is on a good third line, and he very well might find himself there based on how the season pans out and what the future roster construction looks like through the lifespan of his contact.
Overall, plenty of worse players statistically are getting equal or more money to Steel, so the value is there especially with the cap raising more and more over the next few years. As a top six forward it is a bargain contract, but the question still remains of whether he is the right choice for that.
Either way, the utility player will be around for a while longer.
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