The Dallas Stars tried to get Dan Hamhuis at the trade deadline, but they made Kris Russell the priority and the Vancouver Canucks weren’t interested in their lowball offer.
Well, the Stars got Hamhuis today. They’ve signed the 33-year-old defenseman to a two-year deal with a cap hit of $3.75 million.
It could be a good bargain for Dallas, which has already lost Alex Goligoski to free agency and is expected to lose Jason Demers and Russell the same way.
“I believe I have many good years of hockey left,” Hamhuis told Sportsnet recently. “I played in the Olympics two years ago. Last year, there were two major injuries and in the last 10 weeks I played my best hockey in a long time. I’ve got lots of ‘top-4 D’ hockey left in me, and my goal in summer training is to be the best defenseman on my new team. I will find a team that values what I do.”
The Canucks will miss Hamhuis. He was a big part of their run to the 2011 Stanley Cup Final, until he was injured trying to hipcheck Milan Lucic.
But Vancouver decided to spend its cap space on Loui Eriksson, giving the 30-year-old winger a six-year, $36 million deal. The Canucks are expected to go with Alex Edler, Chris Tanev, Ben Hutton and newly acquired Erik Gudbranson as their top-four defenders next season. Luca Sbisa, Nikita Tryamkin, Alex Biega, Andrey Pedan and newly signed Philip Larsen should also compete for playing time.