Outlook for the Stars becomes clearer with Oleksiak signing in Seattle

The Stars' future firmed up a little this week as Jamie Oleksiak was taken by the Seattle Kraken in their expansion draft, Jason Dickinson was traded to the Vancouver Canucks and Miro Heiskanen signed an eight-year contract extension that averages $8.45 million.

Oleksiak could've become an unrestricted free agent on July 28, but the Kraken had a chance to talk to him early because that was allowed by the rules for the expansion draft. Oleksiak agreed to a five-year deal at an average of $4.6 million - a number the Stars couldn't afford because of Heiskanen's deal. He was announced as the Stars' selection on Wednesday.
[RELATED: Kraken select Oleksiak in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft]
"I'm happy to be here," Oleksiak said as he was present in Seattle at the expansion draft announcement.
Asked about his decision to sign with the Kraken, "it was just too good of an opportunity to pass up on," he said. "The city is fantastic, the facilities, the direction of the team, obviously the fans. It was a no-brainer for me."

Now the Stars need to find replacements for Oleksiak and Dickinson, who counted $4.1 million against the cap last season. With the addition of Heiskanen's contract and the subtraction of Oleksiak, Dickinson and a few other deals, the Stars now have about $7 million to find two forwards and two defensemen. They're expected to re-sign restricted free agent Joel Kiviranta and could fill things out with players already in the organization, but they also could look at trades or possible free agents.
Losing Dickinson and Oleksiak will be felt. Both were drafted in the first round by the Stars, and both were important players last season. Oleksiak was fourth on the team in average time on ice at 20:29 and had 14 points (six goals and eight assists) in 56 games during the shortened 2020-21 campaign.
He also was a partner for Heiskanen, so that means the Stars will have to rearrange their defense pairs and find someone else to play beside the 22-year-old rearguard.

The Stars could elevate Thomas Harley, who was selected 18th overall in 2019 and will turn 20 in August, or could ponder re-signing Sami Vatanen, who played for Dallas last season but is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent next week. Harley tallied 25 points (eight goals, 17 assists) in 38 games with the Texas Stars last season. Vatanen played nine games with the big club after being acquired on waivers from the New Jersey Devils.
Vatanen, 30, has played in 473 regular season games with Anaheim, New Jersey and Dallas.
The Stars also made Ben Bishop available for the expansion draft and he wasn't taken, so now they'll have three goalies who could be in the mix next season. Bishop, 34, didn't play a game last season after struggling with a knee injury. He's skating and hoping to be able to get up to speed for next season. Anton Khudobin, 35, battled illness and injury last season and is expected to have a summer of strong workouts heading into camp in September.
Jake Oettinger, 22, had a solid rookie season with a 2.36 goals-against average and .911 save percentage. He doesn't require waivers, so he can go back and forth between the NHL and the AHL depending on the health of Bishop and Khudobin.
"In a perfect world, all three of us will be here," said Bishop last week when it was announced he had waived his no-movement clause in order to protect Khudobin. "That's what we would like."
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This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika, and listen to his podcast.