With the season being officially over, the NHL franchises’ attention turns to the draft, free agency, and roster composition. The Dallas Stars announced yesterday that they had signed pending UFA Matt Duchene to a four-year contract with an AAV of $4.5 million.
Reigning GM of the year Jim Nill is wasting no time since he also traded Mason Marchment to the Seattle Kraken for a third-round pick at the 2026 draft and a fourth-round pick at the 2025 draft, clearing some cap space in the process. Even with that deal, however, the Stars only have $4,955,084 million in projected cap space and have yet to sign Jamie Benn, the longest-tenured captain in team history.
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It could be a struggle for the Stars to fit everyone under the cap, as they’ve only 16 players on their active roster for the upcoming season. Benn, Evgeny Dadonov, Mikael Granlund, Colin Blackwell, Brendan Smith, and Cody Ceci are all UFAs, and, more interestingly for the Montreal Canadiens, Mavrik Bourque is an RFA.
A Plessisville, Quebec native, Bourque was drafted 30th overall at the 2020 draft and is a 23-year-old right-shot center. The 5-foot-11 and 181-pound forward has been trending up since his draft year. He played two full seasons with the Texas Stars in the AHL, scoring 47 points in 70 games in his initial season and then increasing to 77 points in 71 games the following year.
He spent the last season with the Stars in Dallas in a limited role on a deep team. He averaged just 12:41 of ice time skating in the bottom-six. Dobber’s prospect report described him as quick and slippery, and he’s indeed shown to be that so far, but his small frame could be prohibitive for the Canadiens.
The talent is there, and he’s the kind of player who could benefit significantly from working with Martin St-Louis, and he’s the right age to fit with the Canadiens’ window of opportunity. It’s no secret that the Canadiens need to do something about their depth down the middle, with Kirby Dach having failed to pan out as a second-line center so far and Alex Newhook being perhaps best suited to a winger role.
Photo credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
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