Mike Sgarbossa Signs With Texas Stars

After a short stint across the pond, Michael Sgarbossa is back in North America.

The forward inked a one-year, AHL standard contract with the Texas Stars, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, for the 2026-27 campaign. This marks the Campbellville, Ontario natives’ first contract back in the U.S. since 2024-25.

The 33-year-old spent his 2024-25 hockey season in Switzerland, playing in the National League for two clubs: HC Lugano, where he scored 9 goals for 18 points in 27 games, and on loan with SC Bern for 12 games, where he scored 13 points. Sgarbossa also competed in the Spengler Cup for Canada.

The veteran has played in 93 career NHL games with many different teams, starting with the Colorado Avalanche, the team he became a pro with as an undrafted free agent after his rights were traded there from the San Jose Sharks while he was still in the OHL. He was traded to the Anaheim Ducks in 2015 and later to the Florida Panthers in 2016. After his longest NHL stretch of 29 games with Florida in 2016-17, he signed with the Winnipeg Jets and, after a season there, inked a deal with the Washington Capitals.

In Hershey, the Capitals’ AHL affiliate, he led the Bears with 30 goals for 65 points in 2018-19. His seven years under Washington included a call-up where he was asked to replace the departure of Evgeny Kuznetsov in 2024. He capped off 609 AHL games with the Lake Erie Monsters, Norfolk Admirals, San Diego Gulls, Springfield Thunderbirds, as well as the Moose and Bears. Sgarbossa has also been named to the AHL All-Star Classic twice, in 2012-13 with Lake Erie and in 2019-20 with Hershey.