The Dallas Stars made some offseason news in recent days. General manager Jim Nill made a salary-cap driven trade that sent Matt Dumba east. Additionally, the club named a new skating coach to round out Glen Gulutzan’s assistant staff.
Cap issues drove Dumba trade
On Thursday, the Stars traded veteran defenseman Matt Dumba and a 2028 second-round pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins. In exchange, Dallas received 24-year-old defenseman Vladislav Kolyachonok.
However, what’s more important than the swap itself is why Nill made the deal.
The Stars were — and still are — in a bad way in terms of the 2025-25 salary cap . The Dumba trade took $3.75 million of cap obligation off the books by unloading the player’s contract. The same motivation that led to minimal return for Mason Marchment also drove the Dumba trade.
Consequently, the Stars are now $1.955 million below the 2025-26 salary cap ceiling. However, Dallas is not out of the woods yet for their longer-term salary cap plan. Winger Jason Robertson is a restricted free agent next summer. He’s in line for a major raise from his current $7.75 million cap hit.
The Stars had to part with a 2008 second-round pick to get Pittsburgh to take the final year of Dumba’s expiring contract. That’s a hefty asset in today’s marketplace. However, the Stars cushioned the blow by kicking the can down the road. In 2028, the bill comes due for the Penguins accepting the contract dump.
Kolyachonok adds blueline depth
Belarusian defenseman Kolyachonok spent the latter portion 2024-25 with Pittsburgh after coming over from Utah HC. He played in a total of 35 regular-season games and produced seven points (two goals, five assists). The blueliner has dressed in 74 career NHL contests with three teams (Arizona, Utah and Pittsburgh). Overall, he’s chipped in 14 points (4g, 10a) with 18 penalty minutes.
The Florida Panthers originally selected Kolyachonok (6-foot-2, 195 pounds) with the 52nd overall pick of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.
Stars hire famed figure skater Pelletier as assistant coach
On Friday, the Stars offiicially hired Olympic gold medal figure skater David Pelletier as their new skating coach. While the majority of NHL clubs these days have a skating coach, Dallas is one of the minority that has a full-time skating director with an assistant coach title.
Pelletier previously spent 11 years as the Edmonton Oilers’ skating coach. He’s a member of the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame. Pelletier won an Olympic gold medal in pairs figure skating at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
