Edmonton Oilers, Dallas Stars might lose "quality players," including Matt Duchene, Connor Brown & more, opines insider

By ARJUN B

Modified Jun 11, 2025 16:25 GMT

Follow Us

Share

0 Discuss

The Dallas Stars and Edmonton Oilers are two Western Conference contenders that could lose quality players this offseason due to salary cap constraints, according to The Athletic's Harman Dayal.

The Stars have just $5 million in projected cap space after signing Mikko Rantanen, who has a $12 million cap hit. They need to re-sign several key players, including top center Matt Duchene, who's coming off an 82-point season.

Duchene is estimated to command around $7 million annually on his next contract (as per AFP Analytics). Dallas also has other noteworthy UFAs like Jamie Benn, Mikael Granlund and Evgenii Dadonov that need new deals.

“The Stars will need to cut significant salary elsewhere. Dallas has just under $5 million in cap space, with only 16 players signed for the 2025-26 season (eight forwards, six defensemen and two goaltenders),” Dayal wrote.

“The Stars have several key pending unrestricted free agents, including second-line center Matt Duchene” he added.

Dayal pointed out that Dallas may be facing the toughest salary cap crunch of any NHL team this offseason.

Meanwhile, the Oilers have $11.9 million in projected space, but most of that will likely go to emerging defenseman Evan Bouchard. After scoring 59 points this season, Bouchard could land an extension around $10.5 million per year (as per AFP Analytics), which wouldn't leave much wiggle room for Edmonton to retain or add other players.

“They’d be at risk of losing some impactful depth players to free agency. Connor Brown, for example, could look to cash in on his bounce-back season and price himself out.” Dayal said.

Other notable UFAs like Kasperi Kapanen, Jeff Skinner and Corey Perry could also be playing elsewhere next season unless Edmonton makes major trades to open cap space.

Dayal believes the Oilers' cap situation isn't as severe as the Dallas Stars' but expects them to lose one or two solid depth players this summer.

---

Harman Dayal's take on the Dallas Stars' acquisition of Mikko Rantanen

Harman Dayal praised the Dallas Stars' trade deadline "acquisition" of star winger Mikko Rantanen, who was originally traded from Colorado to Carolina in January before being flipped to Dallas at the deadline in March.

"GM Jim Nill’s acquisition of Rantanen was a slam dunk. Prime-aged star players rarely become available and without Rantanen’s heroics, the Stars probably would have bowed out in the first round to Colorado." Dayal said.

Rantanen played a key role in helping the Dallas Stars advance past the first round of the playoffs, notching up a hat-trick and an assist to edge out the Avalanche in a hard-fought seven-game series.