The Dallas Stars have acquired a new forward to contribute to their scoring depth down the stretch of the season.
The Stars traded a 2026 third-round draft pick to the Nashville Predators for left winger Michael Bunting Thursday, a person familiar with the trade confirmed to The Dallas Morning News.
Bunting, who has now been traded ahead of three consecutive trade deadlines, moves over from a Central Division rival where he record 13 goals and 18 assists in 61 games this season.
The 30-year-old is a pending free agent this offseason with a $4.5 million cap hit. Given Tyler Seguin’s season-ending ACL injury, the Stars could afford to take on his contract. However, Dallas was hesitant to take on any more players with term, not knowing how contract negotiations will go with Jason Robertson this summer, who is due for a significant raise.
Sports Roundup
The injury to Seguin — plus injuries to Mikko Rantanen and Radek Faksa in the Olympics — left the Stars with a need for a middle-six forward, which Bunting should be able to fill.
Scoring depth was one of two needs the Stars had at the deadline. Dallas also traded for right-shot defenseman Tyler Myers Wednesday, sending a second-round and fourth-round pick to Vancouver, which retained 50% of his salary for the next season and a half.
The two trades put the Stars over the 23-man roster limit, but Dallas made a corresponding move to loan forward Arttu Hyry to the Texas Stars, a person familiar with the move confirmed to The News.
The NHL trade deadline isn’t until 2 p.m. CT on Friday, but the Stars may be done making moves and have their roster set ahead of what they hope will be a lengthy playoff run.
The Stars have won a franchise-record 10 consecutive games entering the deadline and sit in second place in the NHL standings. They will face the first-place Colorado Avalanche Friday night at American Airlines Center.
Find more Stars coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
