2026-27 Player Profile: Thomas Harley

Name: Thomas Harley

Age: 25

Birthplace: Syracuse, New York

Height/Weight: 6-3, 214

2025-26 regular season stats: 6 goals, 30 assists, 36 points, 23:03 avg. TOI in 70 games

2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs stats: 0 points, 24:15 avg. TOI in 6 games

Contract: Entering first year of eight-year deal that averages $10.587 million

Performance evaluation: Statistically speaking, it was a tough year for Harley. He posted 6 goals among 36 points in 70 games and was plus-3. That was a noticeable dropoff from the season prior when he had 16 goals among 50 points in 78 games and was a spectacular plus-32. His shots on goal dropped from 171 to 113, and his power play time dropped almost a full minute from 2:23 per game to 1:38, so there were reasons for the statistical recession. His power play assists also dipped from 14 in 2024-25 to 6 last year, which added to the gap. The goal dropoff was perhaps the most confounding. After finishing tied for 6th among NHL defensemen in total goals in 2024-25, he dipped down to 70th last year. That was largely due to three lengthy goal droughts of 15-plus games, including a 16-game skid to close the regular season. Harley’s overall average time on ice was 23:03, staying relatively in line with his first two full NHL campaigns. He is usually among the team’s leaders in blocked shots and finished second last season with 148. The young defenseman missed 12 games with a foot injury early in the campaign and also played for Team Canada at the Winter Olympics in February. And after an impressive 2025 postseason run with 4 goals among 10 points in 18 games, Harley was held off the scoresheet entirely in the 2026 playoffs, though he posted 15 shots on goal and 36 shot attempts.

Expectations for 2026-27: Harley kicks off an eight-year contract extension that averages more than $10 million per season, making him the highest-paid defenseman on the team. And while he probably doesn’t think about it, it does factor into how a team is put together. The new coaching staff last season leaned heavily on Miro Heiskanen, giving him 3:27 in average power play time and 3:06 in average shorthanded time. Meanwhile, Harley’s power play time dipped almost an entire minute. Even more noticeable, Harley’s man advantage time in the playoffs went from a team-leading 3:06 in 2024-25 to 0:30 last season. Now, the sample size was much smaller (18 games compared to six) and Heiskanen missed the first 10 games in the 2025 postseason to inflate Harley’s numbers, but there is something there in the drop. Bottom line, the coaching staff has to find a way to use both Heiskanen and Harley if they want to function in a cap world. Harley is an exceptional backup plan if Heiskanen is hurt, but he needs to be more than that. When you consider Dallas had arguably the most effective power play in the NHL last season, it’s tough to want to change that, so how do they get more from Harley? Another year next to Nils Lundkvist could allow the two to get better as a pairing and increase production, or they could try pairing Harley with Heiskanen to see if that could work again. Some of Harley’s best work has come in international play, so he is definitely better when skating with top players. Harley pushed hard earlier in his career to improve himself, and the guess is last season was just a hiccup. He had 31 goals among 97 points and was a stellar plus-60 in the previous two seasons combined, and the belief is he will get back to that level in the year ahead.

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on X @MikeHeika.