3 potential decisions Dallas Stars can make after clearing cap space from Mason Marchment trade ft. Re-sign Jamie Benn

The Dallas Stars got the wheels turning on their offseason by making two key moves on Thursday.

First, the club announced the re-signing of forward Matt Duchene to a four-year, $18 million deal. Duchene’s new contract further complicated an already complex salary cap situation for the Stars, necessitating another move.

Second, the Dallas Stars traded Mason Marchment to the Seattle Kraken in exchange for a pair of draft picks. The move cleared Marchment’s $4.5 million cap hit off the books, essentially swapping Marchment for Duchene’s cap hit.

But the Stars are far from out of the woods. The team still has several free agents to sign and roughly $4 million in cap space. That situation means the Stars will likely have to pull off more moves before the team can get its affairs in order.

So, let’s take a look at three potential moves the Dallas Stars can make now that the team has cleared cap space following the Mason Marchment trade.

3 potential decisions Dallas Stars can make after clearing cap space from Mason Marchment

#3 Make additional trades

More trades could be forthcoming as Dallas looks to keep Granlund - Source: Imagn

The Dallas Stars still have Jamie Benn, Evgenii Dadonov, Mikael Granlund, Colin Blackwell, Mavrik Bourque, Cody Ceci, and Nils Lundkvist as free agents. That list could force the Stars to make more trades.

Ilya Lyubushkin and Matt Dumba are among the names rumored to be on the block. The two blue liners would free up nearly $7 million in cap space. Combined with the savings from the Marchment trade, that would give the Stars over $12 million to play.

That amount would still be insufficient to keep most of the band together. So, a larger contract would have to be moved out, such as Jason Robertson’s, as has also been speculated.

#2 Let free agents walk

Evgenii Dadonov could walk amid the Stars cap crunch - Source: Imagn

One of the most plausible outcomes will be to let some of the free agents on the Stars’ list walk. Determining which ones is no easy task.

For instance, the chatter around the league has been that the Dallas Stars are keen on keeping Granlund. Keeping Granlund would likely mean sacrificing another forward like Dadonov. It’s a tough choice, but it would depend on whether Granlund’s asking price is sensible for the Stars.

#1 Re-sign Jamie Benn

The Stars will prioritize keeping their captain in the fold - Source: Imagn

One of the biggest names on the free-agent block for the Stars is captain Jamie Benn. The 35-year-old has not hinted at retiring. He also hasn’t indicated that he’s open to leaving Dallas.

That means that part of the Stars’ cap space will go toward re-signing Benn. It’s worth noting that Benn is coming off an eight-year deal carrying a $9.5 million cap hit. If Benn is to re-sign in Dallas, it won’t be for that cap hit.

Benn will need to give the Stars a discount in order to make the numbers work. Re-signing their captain is atop the Dallas Stars’ to-do list. So, it’s plausible that Benn is the next player to ink in Dallas before other major decisions are made.