TORONTO — Twelve months ago, the Dallas Stars sent shockwaves throughout the hockey world with their blockbuster trade with the Carolina Hurricanes that landed them forward Mikko Rantanen.
This time around, they are once again open to being active in the week leading up to the NHL Trade Deadline, which is Friday at 3 p.m. ET. Just don’t expect anything near the magnitude of what they pulled off a year ago.
“I don’t see us doing a big splash,” Stars general manager Jim Nill told NHL.com on Sunday. “First of all, the salary cap still comes into play more than ever, not only for this year, but for next year. I’ve got some very good players, and very good players eventually make big money.
“We got Thomas Harley just re-signed; he’s jumping up next year from making $4 million to making $10.5 million. I’ve got Jason Robertson as a pending restricted free agent; he’s going to get a big pay hike. So, I’ve got to manage that for next year also. Can I take on a guy that’s signed for three more years at $5 million each? I don’t have the cap space for that.
“Every team has different situations they’re going to look at short term and long term.”
Dallas considered both when it acquired Rantanen on March 7, 2025.
To that point, Nill figured the Stars were finished dealing after acquiring forward Mikael Granlund and defenseman Cody Ceci from the San Jose Sharks a month earlier.
“But when a guy like Rantanen comes available, well, he’s a generational player,” Nill said. “I mean, we thought we were done, and then three or four days before the Deadline, about the same time as it is now, you get a call finding out a guy like that is available. It’s not often a franchise player like that comes on the market. You don’t get a guy like that unless you’re drafting in the top five. And then, when he does, you quickly change direction and say, ‘Wow, we’ve got to take advantage of this opportunity.'”
As of Sunday, the trade market had been slow, a byproduct of so many teams still feeling they have a legitimate shot to make a Stanley Cup Playoff run. As such, Nill said there could be players made available between now and the Deadline whose names haven’t even been brought up yet in any kind of trade discussions.
“It happens quickly,” he said. “All of a sudden, a team decides it will be a seller last minute. And you have to be ready to pivot last minute when a coveted player is put on the market at the last moment.”
A scenario Nill expects to see around the League in the next few days.
As for his own team, Nill said forwards Rantanen (lower body), Radek Faksa (upper body) and Roope Hintz (illness) should all be available for the start of the postseason, if not earlier.
Rantanen has 87 points (25 goals, 62 assists) in 74 games for the Stars since the trade. The 29-year-old was acquired from the Hurricanes for forward Logan Stankoven, a conditional first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, a conditional first-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft, a third-round pick in the 2026 draft and a third-round selection in the 2027 NHL Draft.
“He’s come as advertised,” Nill said. “He’s a great player and will have a huge role in our playoff aspirations, no matter what we might do in the coming days.”
