Radek Faksa’s return to Dallas in July 2025 gave the Stars back a familiar piece of their identity. After a one-year stop in St. Louis, the 32-year-old center was back in the only other NHL home he had known, and the fit looked natural almost immediately.
Through the first half of the 2025-26 regular season, Faksa looked like the same dependable depth center Dallas had leaned on for years. He brought the defensive awareness, faceoff work, penalty-killing value and physical edge that have long defined his game, all while averaging just 11:44 of ice time in 58 games.
His 15 assists were the most on the team among players averaging under 13:15 per game, and he also led the Stars with three shorthanded points. His 2:11 average shorthanded ice time ranked second among Dallas forwards.
The numbers told part of the story, but the role told the rest. Faksa took 441 faceoffs, fourth-most on the team, and won 53.3 percent of them.
That marked his sixth straight season above 53 percent. He also chipped in 10 hits in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, where he went scoreless in six games while averaging 13:08 of ice time.
His season wasn’t without disruption. Faksa suffered a concussion at the 2026 Winter Olympics, then later dealt with a lacerated foot during a practice in Dallas.
That kept him out for the first 24 games after the break and left him with only the final two regular-season games to get back into rhythm before the playoffs. Even with that limited runway, his presence still mattered.
Some of the production came with career-low marks. Faksa’s two goals, 38 shots and 11:44 average ice time were all personal lows, but those numbers reflected a changed role more than a drop-off in usefulness. He scored once empty-net and once shorthanded, and his game still centered on the things Dallas has always valued from him: reliable defense, strong draws, penalty killing and the ability to protect a late lead.
Looking ahead to 2026-27, that role appears set. Faksa is not being counted on for 15 goals or 35 points.
What the Stars need from him is steadiness, and he still offers plenty of that as a fourth-line leader. He is closing in on 800 career games, with 696 of his 766 NHL games coming in a Dallas sweater, tying him with Esa Lindell for fifth-most in franchise history.
With the Stars projected to be near the salary cap ceiling, depending on Jason Robertson’s status, Faksa also fits as a cost-friendly option on the fourth line. If Dallas carries more than 12 forwards, he should remain a lineup regular, likely rotating alongside Joel Kiviranta, Oskar Bäck and Colin Blackwell. A relatively quiet summer in terms of roster turnover only helps, since Faksa already has playing history with all of them.
The broader picture still suits him. Dallas has long been one of the league’s most defensively sound teams, with a 2.65 goals-against average since moving to Texas in 1993, second-best in the NHL over that span. Faksa has been part of that formula for much of the last decade, and his value remains tied to the same traits that got him here in the first place.
He ranks among the NHL’s top 50 in faceoffs taken since his debut in 2015, and he sits in the top 25 in defensive-zone faceoffs taken since 2020-21. Even with Dallas having other experienced penalty killers and younger options like Bäck and Arttu Hyry developing in that area, Faksa still looks like one of the safest choices when the Stars need a shorthanded shift.
As Lindy Ruff once put it, Faksa was the kind of player a coach could send over the boards in almost any situation without hesitation. That still sounds about right.
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Jason Robertsons next contract has become one of the most important issues facing Dallas this summer, with the winger headed toward salary arbitration and the Stars trying to plan around a market that may be tighter than their available space. Coming off a huge season, Robertson has made himself indispensable enough that his case will be a difficult one for the club to manage, even before the hearing sets a number on what he is worth.
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