Stars Sign Six Free Agents To Contracts
FRISCO (Sports Network) - The Dallas Stars made their splash in the free- agent pool a big one on Friday evening, signing six players to contracts of varying lengths.
In terms of length, Dallas provided a three-year contract worth $5.4 million ($1.8 million per season) to forward Vernon Fiddler; brought in forward Michael Ryder with a two-year deal worth $3.5 million per season and defenseman Adam Pardy on a two-year pact at $2 million each year; and inked forwards Radek Dvorak ($1.5 million) and Jake Dowell ($800,000), and defenseman Sheldon Souray ($1.6 million) to one-year deals.
"We're very excited about the additions we made today. We identified the players we wanted to acquire and we were able to get them," said Stars general manager Joe Nieuwendyk. "We've added six good players to our club and we feel we have improved our overall depth. We did a lot of research and today was an important day for us. I'm very pleased with the players that we acquired."
The primary addition from the group is Ryder, who is coming off a Stanley Cup- winning campaign with the Boston Bruins. The 31-year-old tallied 18 goals and 41 points in 79 regular-season games with the Bs, adding eight goals and 17 points over 25 playoff contests.
A native of Newfoundland, Ryder has collected 162 goals and 334 points in 549 games with the Habs and Bruins since 2003.
Souray is looking to make a return to the NHL after a tenure with Edmonton that turned sour. The 34-year-old Alberta native signed a five-year deal in July of 2007 with the Oilers, but injuries and battles with management landed him in Hershey of the AHL last season, where he posted four goals and 19 points in 40 games.
His last full NHL season, in 2008-09, saw the offensive-minded blueliner tally 23 goals and 53 points in 81 games. In 650 career contests, Souray has racked up 96 goals and 262 points with 1,020 penalty minutes.
Fiddler spent the last two seasons in Phoenix, recording a combined 14 goals and 52 points in 147 games. Since breaking in with Nashville in 2005, the former Calder Cup champion and Edmonton native has posted 59 goals and 145 points in 452 games.
Dvorak is entering his 16th NHL season. The 34-year-old Czech notched seven goals and 15 assists in 66 games between Florida and Atlanta in 2010-11. A veteran of 1,118 contests, the 10th overall pick in 1995 (by the Panthers) has totaled 215 goals and 556 points.
Pardy, a spare defenseman in three NHL seasons with the Flames, has recorded four goals and 26 points in 147 career games.
Dowell, 26, has split his five-year career between the AHL and NHL in the Blackhawks' system. The native of Wisconsin posted nine goals and 26 points in 102 total NHL contests.
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