The 39-year-old defender is the second big veteran departure of the 2024 postseason.
The Dallas Stars haven’t made their official announcement, but it’s already in the wild: The team will buy out the remainder of defenseman Ryan Suter’s contract as one of their big offseason moves. The Dallas Morning News’ Lia Assimakopoulos posted the story this morning.
The money quote (if you will):
Suter had one year and $4.3 million in base salary remaining on the four-year deal he signed with the Stars in 2021. The buyout will save the Stars $2.87 million on the cap in 2024-25, according to CapFriendly. They will incur a $1.43 million cap penalty in 2025-26.
It remains to be seen whether those savings will give GM Jim Nill what he needs to re-sign Chris Tanev, whose presence on the blueline was so key to the Stars’ 2024 playoffs success. At the very least, it opens a spot for up-and-comer Lian Bichsel, whose NHL readiness may no longer be in question.
The statistician know as JFresh examined Suter’s 2023-24 performance:
And Saad Yousuf talked about what this means for the locker room:
What are your thoughts? With the 2024 NHL Draft looming, we have plenty to discuss.