Joel Kiviranta is back in Dallas, and Jim Nill made it clear Wednesday that the move checked every box the Stars were looking for.
The Dallas general manager said Kiviranta made sense both on the ice and on the books when the team brought him back on a one-year, $1 million deal signed July 1. Nill also pointed to something less measurable but just as valued inside the room: the forward’s presence in the dressing room.
“We have a great history with Kivi,” Nill said. “You go back to, we signed him out of Finland.
His first pro opportunity was with the Dallas Stars. He did a great job for us.
Everybody knows the bubble, what went on, what he did for the team. And so he’s a good fit for us.
We know he fits into the dressing room. So when we had the opportunity, once again, it’s got to be the right fit player-wise and financially under the cap.
He was a good fit for us, and we know how he fits in the room. He’s a big part of it.”
Nill went a step further in describing what Kiviranta brings behind the scenes.
“For the people that don’t know Kivi, he seems pretty quiet and reserved, but in the dressing room, he’s kind of the rally guy,” Nill continued. “So it’s great to have a player come back like that, and he plays the game the right way.”
That kind of role player, Nill said, is never a luxury.
“It never hurts. You never have enough of it. You always need those types of players,” Nill said.
Kiviranta’s path with Dallas goes back to May 31, 2019, when the Stars signed him as an undrafted free agent after six seasons in Finland’s SM-Liiga. That spring, he also won gold with Finland at the World Championship.
His defining Dallas moment came on Sept. 4, 2020, in the Edmonton bubble. In Game 7 of the second round against the Colorado Avalanche, Kiviranta scored three times, with the winner coming 7:24 into overtime for a 5-4 victory.
It was just his third career playoff game, and he was in the lineup because Andrew Cogliano was unfit to play. Kiviranta finished that postseason with 5 goals, 1 assist and 6 points in 14 games, helping Dallas reach the Stanley Cup Final.
Across his first stint with the Stars, Kiviranta had 28 points in 163 games. He departed when his contract expired in 2023, then spent the last three seasons in Colorado. Last season with the Avalanche, he posted 3 goals, 6 assists and 9 points in 51 games.
The return comes with the cap in mind. In August, Pro Hockey Rumors, using PuckPedia figures, had Dallas $1,360,333 over the $104 million upper limit, and Nill said Wednesday that the situation will force the team to make decisions on players.
Camp opens Thursday at Comerica Center, and the preseason begins Saturday, Sept. 19, at the St. Louis Blues with a 6 p.m. CT puck drop.
In Other News...
Stars Are Giving A Familiar Defenseman One More Chance To Matter
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Stars Give A Familiar Defenseman Another Shot To Stick
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Gleason has spent most of his career in the AHL, moving through different stops while trying to carve out a longer look at the top level. He most recently signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Minnesota Wild in July, so this latest PTO gives him another chance to show he can still earn a place in a crowded defense mix, even if the final call will depend on how much he can separate himself over the next stretch. [Read more 🡒]
Jim Nill Tries To Calm Two Growing Stars Concerns
The Stars have spent the fall trying to keep the focus on hockey, even as questions around a pair of core pieces have started to build. General manager Jim Nill said there have been no extension discussions with Jason Robertsons camp yet, and the reason is straightforward: league rules keep those talks off-limits until Jan. 1. Robertson already went through a tense contract stretch, filing for salary arbitration before settling on a one-year deal, which only sharpened the sense that his next long-term step will become a major storyline for Dallas.
Thomas Harley has become part of that conversation, too, after Dallas failed pursuit of Zach Werenski briefly put the young defenseman in the spotlight. Nill made it clear Harley remains important to the club, a reminder that the Stars are trying to balance present contention with the need to protect their emerging talent. For a team built to win now, keeping both Robertson and Harley on the same page may end up mattering just as much as anything that happens on the ice. [Read more 🡒]