The Dallas Stars have locked up Sam Steel for the long haul, signing the 28-year-old forward to a four-year, $14.8 million extension on Monday. The contract carries a $3.7 million average annual value, begins in the 2027-28 season and runs through 2030-31.
Steel is finishing the final year of the two-year, $4.2 million extension he signed with Dallas on Feb. 14, 2025. Without this new agreement, he would have been eligible to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2027.
For the Stars, the appeal is obvious. Steel has carved out his value with steady play and a real edge on the penalty kill. In the team’s announcement, general manager Jim Nill pointed directly to that consistency.
“We couldn’t be happier to extend Sam,” Nill said. “His consistency during his time with our team, especially on the penalty kill, plus his versatility has made him a valuable asset to our organization, and we’re happy to be locking him up for the next four seasons.”
Steel’s first season in Dallas, in 2023-24, gave the Stars plenty to like. He posted career bests with 2 shorthanded goals and 3 shorthanded points. The next season, he logged 1:58 of shorthanded ice time per game, the most among Dallas forwards, and that number jumped to 2:47 during the playoffs.
Last season was Steel’s most productive NHL campaign yet. He finished with 12 goals, 21 assists and 33 points in 73 regular-season games, all career highs. His previous top marks came with Minnesota in 2022-23, when he had 10 goals, 18 assists and 28 points in 65 games.
Across his first two seasons with the Stars, Steel totaled 24 points in 77 games in 2023-24 and 25 points in 79 games in 2024-25. He averaged 16:04 of ice time last season and added 79 hits, 29 blocked shots and 24 penalty minutes.
His season also included a stretch on the sidelines after a hip injury forced him out following a March 26 game. Steel came back for the regular-season finale against the Buffalo Sabres on April 15.
In the playoffs, Minnesota knocked Dallas out in six games in the first round, and Steel went without a point in all six contests.
Steel’s path to this extension has been built on a series of short-term deals. Anaheim drafted him 30th overall in 2016, and he played four seasons there from 2018-19 through 2021-22.
After the Ducks declined to give him a qualifying offer in 2022, he signed a one-year deal with Minnesota on Aug. 30, 2022.
Minnesota also declined to qualify him in June 2023, opening the door for Dallas to sign him to a one-year, $850,000 contract on July 1, 2023. The Stars later took the same route after that season, and Steel returned on a one-year, $1.2 million deal on June 30, 2024. The extension he signed on Feb. 14, 2025 carried a $2.1 million average annual value.
Through 491 regular-season games with the Ducks, Wild and Stars, Steel has 61 goals, 114 assists and 175 points. In 48 playoff games, he has 3 goals, 11 assists and 14 points.
Dallas opened training camp on Sept. 17 at Comerica Center in Frisco with 57 players on the roster. The Stars host the St.
Louis Blues in a preseason game Monday at American Airlines Center, with puck drop set for 7 p.m. CT.
The regular season starts at home against St. Louis on Friday, Oct. 2, when the Stars open their 84-game schedule with a 8 p.m. CT puck drop on TNT.
In Other News...
Stars Just Got An Early Answer In Their Backup Goalie Battle
The preseason opener gave Dallas an early look at the backup goalie race, and Casey DeSmith made a strong first impression. He handled a heavy workload against St. Louis and gave the Stars exactly the kind of steady, competitive showing they want behind Jake Oettinger, a point coach Glen Gulutzan and teammates were quick to emphasize afterward.
It was also a busy day for the organization beyond the crease, with the club locking in forward Sam Steel on a four-year extension that begins next season. But for the moment, the clearest immediate takeaway is in goal, where DeSmith has already put a little pressure on the conversation and given Dallas something useful to sort through before the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]
Stars Just Cut One Of Their Early Camp Standouts
The Stars trimmed their training camp roster by nine players, and one of the more notable moves was parting ways with Jack Becker after a strong start to preseason. Dallas also waived or released Aram Minnetian, Justin Ertel, Christian Fitzgerald, Ayrton Martino, Charlie Paquette, Connor Punnett, Benjamin Gleason and Kyle Looft as camp begins to narrow toward the teams opening-night mix.
Becker had positioned himself as one of the early standouts in camp, which made his exit more surprising than routine. With the roster now down to 39 players, the Stars can turn their attention to the next stretch of preseason games against the Minnesota Wild, where the remaining hopefuls will keep pushing for spots and the separation between fringe players and true contenders should start to sharpen. [Read more 🡒]
Jason Robertson Is Back But The Stars Still Face A Bigger Decision
Jason Robertson is back under contract, and for the Stars that at least quiets one of the most awkward offseason storylines. The forward agreed to a one-year deal worth $12 million, a move that avoids a scheduled salary arbitration hearing and gives Dallas a firm answer for the moment after a summer full of uncertainty around one of its top players.
The bigger question is still hanging out there. Dallas had previously lined up a sign-and-trade framework involving Seattle before Robertson passed on a long-term agreement with the Kraken, and general manager Jim Nill said the club hopes to begin talks on a longer extension starting January 1. For now, the Stars have Robertson in the fold, but the real test is whether this ends up being a temporary fix or the first step toward keeping him in Dallas for good. [Read more 🡒]