Stars look to grow offensive production with signings of Duchene, Smith

The Stars on Saturday finished up their offseason work and believe to have made themselves a better offensive team in the process.

Dallas signed Matt Duchene, Craig Smith and Sam Steel in free agency and bid adieu to Colin Miller (traded to New Jersey), Max Domi (allowed to leave in free agency), Luke Glendening (signed with Tampa Bay in free agency), and Joel Kiviranta (allowed to leave in free agency). Added to the re-signing of forward Evgenii Dadonov and defenseman Joel Hanley, the maneuvers give the Stars an almost full roster. The Stars have only to re-sign restricted free agent Ty Dellandrea and they will be ready to head to training camp in September for the 2023-24 season.

"It's no secret these guys we've brought in have all scored, so we think we have improved our team that way," Stars GM Jim Nill said.

Duchene, 32, was the third overall pick in 2009. He has 744 points in 976 NHL games. He was on a seven-year contract with the Nashville Predators for a cap hit of $8 million a season, but Nashville bought him out when new management decided to go in a different direction. That allowed Duchene to sign a one-year deal with the Stars for $3 million.

It could be a win-win for both Duchene and the Stars.

"This is a business," Duchene told TSN Television on how he was dealing with the hard transition from being told he was being bought out on Friday to signing with Dallas on Saturday. "I'm really excited to be joining an amazing team in Dallas. Really looking forward to it."

Nill said the process will be challenging for Duchene, who had 56 points (22 goals, 35 assists) in 71 games this season for Nashville.

"It was a tough day for him," Nill said. "He was devastated. You sign somewhere and you expect you're going to be there eight years, and you're a big part of the team, and all of the sudden you're told it's over. It's tough. The good thing is we've got a strong room, I had a conversation with him. Just come in here and be yourself. You don't have to worry about leading the team. That's going to happen naturally."

Duchene brings a wealth of talent. He had a career-best 86 points (43 goals, 43 assists) in 78 games just two seasons ago and he will be able to play a second-line role in Dallas behind Roope Hintz.

"You talk about Roope Hintz coming out, and then the next shift out comes Matt Duchene," Nill said. "That really changes the look of our team a little bit."

Nill said the three players add both speed and puck possession, and that will help create a dangerous team throughout the lineup. Dallas finished seventh in scoring at 3.43 goals per game and fifth in power play success at 25.0 percent under new coach Pete DeBoer, and adding these three players should help improve that. The top line of Jason Robertson, Hintz and Joe Pavelski returns, as does the second or third line of Jamie Benn, Wyatt Johnston and Dadonov. That means Duchene can center a line that will potentially have Mason Marchment and Tyler Seguin, while the fourth line could be a combination of Radek Faksa with Steel, Smith or possibly Dellandrea.

Faksa last season had 11 goals and nine assists for 20 points in 81 games with the Stars. Dellandrea had nine goals and 19 assists for 28 points in 82 games with Dallas. Steel, 25, had 10 goals among 28 points in 65 games with Minnesota. And Smith, 33, had five seasons of 20 or more goals with Nashville. Two seasons ago with the Bruins, he tallied 16 goals and 20 assists.

All in all, the new group gives the Stars the potential for more offensive production.

"I think we've improved the team," Nill said. "We've added a lot of speed and we've added a lot of scoring. There's no secret to what Matt Duchene brings. He's a puck possession guy, he's got great speed. He's good on the power play. So, I think we've improved our game that way. It really solidifies our top nine. Craig Smith has been a proven scorer in the league, veteran, good leadership, he's a good skater also, good speed. Sam Steel, the same thing. We saw him against Minnesota. He was a first-round pick of Anaheim. He's trying to find his way and we think he's starting to show he's getting better and better. He's a young guy on a good contract."

Duchene will make $3 million for one season, Smith $1 million for one season, and Steel $850,000 for one season. That's some pretty smart shopping by Nill.

To create the space the team traded defenseman Colin Miller and his $1.85 million cap hit to New Jersey and opted to not re-sign Domi, Kiviranta or Luke Glendening.

Nill said it was tough to say goodbye to good players and good people, but that's the business of the NHL.

The addition of the new players could make it tough for younger Stars players like Logan Stankoven and Mavrik Bourque to make the opening roster out of training camp, but Nill said that is also part of the business.

"We think competition is good," Nill said. "First of all, there are going to be injuries, we've seen that before. But we're looking forward to training camp. There's going to be great competition and it's a good problem to have. That stuff always works itself out."

The departure of Miller and the signing of Hanley gives the Stars seven defensemen, who are expected to form the core of the D group next season. Dallas didn't add any defensemen in free agency, but Nill said the improvement of Thomas Harley, 21, and Nils Lundkvist, 22, will help the D corps improve.

"Thomas Harley didn't start the year with us last year. He's now a big part of it," Nill said. "We're expecting growth from him, and we're expecting growth from Nils Lundkvist. If those guys grow as they should, we think we're in a good position."

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 Twitter @MikeHeika.