Hintz signs eight-year, $67.6 million contract with Stars

Roope Hintz signed an eight-year, $67.6 million contract with the Dallas Stars on Tuesday. It has an average annual value of $8.45 million.

"It takes hard work to get here, but the work doesn't stop now," Hintz said Wednesday. "It's nice to see when you work hard you get rewarded. Now, just have to keep working and try to get better."
The 26-year-old forward, who is in the final season of a three-year, $9.45 million contract he signed with Dallas on Nov. 9, 2020, could have become a restricted free agent after the season.
"Of course it's nice that I can stay here," Hintz said. "Great city, great fans, great organization, great team, so I have nothing bad in here. … It was good that it didn't take too long. Now we can just focus on the game. It's good to get it done."
Hintz has 24 points (eight goals, 16 assists) in 22 games this season and is second among Stars forwards in ice time per game (17:01), behind Jason Robertson (17:42), including averaging 2:23 on the power play and 1:09 on the penalty kill.
"Roope Hintz wants to be a Dallas Star for life," Stars general manager Jim Nill said Tuesday. "He was drafted by the Dallas Stars, and he wants to stay here, be a Dallas Star for life. He's got some great friends on the team, he's well-respected in the dressing room, and he's a big part of our team. It was something that was important to get signed."
Hintz also ranks third in plus-minus (plus-13) and second in SAT percentage (shots taken while on the ice at 5-on-5) at 55.8 perecent.
"He's done the process the right way. He's stuck with it, he's worked hard," Nill said. "He believed in himself, and he's gotten better every season. It's a compliment to Roope and it's a compliment to our coaching and development staff. They've worked with him, he's done his part, and he's a great example of really how most of the career path of players work. Here he is today, he's signed an eight-year deal that's made him a Dallas Star for another eight years, and well deserved."

Selected in the second round (No. 49) of the 2015 NHL Draft, Hintz has 194 points (88 goals, 106 assists) in 261 regular-season games for Dallas. He also has 25 points (nine goals, 16 assists) in 44 Stanley Cup Playoff games, including getting 13 points (two goals, 11 assists) in 25 games to help the Stars advance to the Stanley Cup Final in 2020, when they lost in six games to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
"Roope Hintz has shown that he's a No. 1 center in the League, and those guys are hard to find," Nill said. "… They're one of the hardest positions to find. Once you have one, you don't want to get rid of him, and that's the case with Roope. ... He can go head-to-head against the best players in the League the way he skates, with his size, his strength (6-foot-3, 215 pounds). And then on the flip side, he can kill penalties, he's on the power play. He's one of the fastest players in the League, he's got the ability to score, he's got a great touch for a big man. He competes hard. It's why in the end we made this commitment of eight years and the AAV we're going to pay him."
Hintz has formed one of the most productive lines in the NHL with Robertson and Joe Pavelski.
"When [the coaches] put us together, it just kind of clicked," Hintz said. "We had good chemistry, and we've just been building the chemistry. When you get to play more with certain guys, you know what they do on the ice, so then it's easier to play together. We've been together so long now, it's getting easier."
Hintz had surgery to repair a tendon issue in his groin in May 2021 before returning to have his best NHL season. He set NHL career-highs in goals (37), assists (35) and points (72) while averaging 18:02 of ice time in 80 games last season.
"Injuries are part of our business, but you deal with those," Nill said. "He's shown that he can play through injuries. That's what probably impresses me most about Roope."
Hintz's contract locks up another key part of the Stars' core. Prior to the season, Robertson, 23, (four years, $31 million) and goalie Jake Oettinger, 23 (three years, $12 million) each signed a contract as an RFA.
"Foundation piece, well deserved," Stars coach Peter DeBoer said. "You like to see guys like that rewarded. He wasn't a top-five pick and spent time in the minors, worked himself into being an elite player in the league and gets rewarded for that. Those are the stories you like to see.
"When you're signing a No. 1 center, they have to be able to create offense, make other people better, but they also have to be able to go up against the best players in the league and tilt the ice in your favor. Those only a handful of guys who can do that."
The Stars (13-6-4), who lead the Central Division, next play against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday.
"We thought it was a good time, (the team was) off to a good start and Roope was playing well, let's sit down and see if we could figure something out," Nill said. "We wanted to do something quick if we could, I didn't want this to drag on. It's not easy for players during the season to live through negotiations and that. We found a common ground that we thought would work for both parties, and yesterday we got it signed.
"I think it's a number he's happy with, and it's a number we're happy with. The eight-year term was non-negotiable, we knew that was going to be part of the process with his age and where he's at in his career."
NHL.com independent correspondent Taylor Baird contributed to this report