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Dallas Stars Make Up Their Mind on Trading Expensive Player, Per Elliotte Friedman

Originally posted on House of Hockey | By Aaron Itovitch | Last updated Jul 14, 2025 10:26 AM ET

It has been expected that the Dallas Stars would trade Ilya Lyubushkin this summer, but, per Elliotte Friedman, that is no longer the plan.

The Dallas Stars are in a difficult spot as a franchise. They have faced the best of the best in the conference finals in recent years, and have unfortunately fallen short.

Last season, a large part of their loss to Connor McDavid's Edmonton Oilers was the right side of their defense. While superstar Miro Heiskanen plays well on his off side, the remaining options were Matt Dumba, Ilya Lyubushkin, and Alex Petrovic.

Petrovic, a 6-foot-5 bruising depth defenseman is far from the type of player a team wants in a key spot in their playoff lineup, and was placed on waivers following their playoff exit.

Dumba was traded earlier this week to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for younger, cheaper depth defenseman Ilya Kolyachonok, but that is purely addition by subtraction.

Finally, as for Lyubushkin, he is dependable and physical, but his $3.25 million cap hit is painfully high for a team so strapped for cap space. Having been involved in rampant trade rumours , it was expected the 31-year-old would be suiting up for a new team next season; Elliotte Friedman, however, has confirmed that will not be the case.

The Stars have no interest in moving Ilya Lyubushkin, they felt that he was a good depth player for them

We will see if this is the right move for the Stars, who have more big contracts to shell out in the coming months, including to Jason Robertson. Lyubushkin's deal runs through 2026-27, so this appears to simply be placing a decision to a later date.

This article first appeared on House of Hockey and was syndicated with permission.

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