The Dallas Stars have bolstered their blue line by signing Dan Hamhuis to a two-year, $7.5 million deal according to multiple reports. The cap hit will be $3.75 a season.
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Hamhuis spent the last six seasons with his hometown Vancouver Canucks and will shore up a backend that had its share of troubles later in the season. The Stars have plenty of offensive-minded defensemen like John Klingberg and Johnny Oduya. However, there isn’t a shutdown defender on this team.
What Dan Hamhuis on Dallas Means
The signing of the left-handed blueliner could be the start of a big defensive overhaul by Stars general manager Jim Nill, who has tried to add a top-flight goalie in Ben Bishop to shore up another weak point on an otherwise high-flying Stanley Cup contender.
The signing with Dallas is also a return to the Central Division after spending the first five season seasons with the Nashville Predators, who drafted him with the 12th overall selection in the 2001 draft.
The acquisition of the Smithers, British Columbia native is a big one considering the number of good offensive clubs in the division.
Hamhuis was limited to only 58 games this season due injuries and scored three goals and added 10 assists. He was also limited to only 59 games in the 2014-15 season, where tallied a single goal and notched 22 assists. He was instrumental in getting the Canucks back into the postseason after they missed out in 2013-14.
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The 6-foot-1 inch defenseman has also starred on the international stage as he’s won two IIHF World Championship gold medals (2007, 2015) and was part of Team Canada’s gold medal-winning squad in 2014 in Sochi, Russia.
He’ll get a nice payday and he won’t have to deal with taxes because the state of Texas doesn’t charge any. This is also could the last really good contract he gets with Hamhuis turning 34 on December 13.