- Dallas extends its veteran backup a full season before his deal runs out
- Jim Nill wants the goalie tandem with Jake Oettinger kept together
- Read below for the contract details and DeSmith’s numbers in Dallas
The Dallas Stars aren’t breaking up their goalie tandem anytime soon.
Casey DeSmith signed a two-year, $5 million contract extension with the Stars on Wednesday. The deal carries a $2.5 million cap hit and kicks in next season, keeping him in Dallas through 2028-29.
Here’s the Stars’ announcement from Wednesday morning:
DeSmith, 35, is entering the final year of the three-year, $3.05 million deal he signed on July 1, 2024. He was on track to hit unrestricted free agency next summer. Instead, the Stars more than doubled his pay and took care of it before the regular season even started for them.
General manager Jim Nill talked about why getting it done early was important.
“Extending Casey has been a priority for us, and we’re excited to have him locked up for two more years,” Nill said. “He’s been incredibly reliable during his time with our organization, and we are looking forward to the tandem of Casey and Jake (Oettinger) continuing to anchor our team moving forward.”
Reliable is a fair word for it. DeSmith has gone 29-16-8 with a .911 save percentage and a 2.50 goals-against average in 57 games since arriving in Dallas. Last season he went 15-8-6 with a 2.43 GAA and a .907 save percentage in 30 games, his heaviest workload since 2022-23 in Pittsburgh.
We had the numbers up right after the announcement:
That kind of backup matters for a team that plans on playing deep into the spring. Oettinger doesn’t have to carry 65 starts when there’s a guy behind him who can win on a random Tuesday in January.
It’s been quite the climb for DeSmith. He went undrafted out of the University of New Hampshire and started his pro career in the ECHL before the Penguins gave him an NHL contract in 2017. He’s now 99-69-29 with a .910 save percentage and 13 shutouts across 220 career games with Pittsburgh, Vancouver and Dallas.
This new deal is the richest of his career. He turns 38 near the end of it.
Dallas opens its season Friday at home against the St. Louis Blues, with Tyler Seguin back in the lineup after last year’s ACL tear. DeSmith and Oettinger will split the crease for at least three more seasons.
