Stars expected to sign Thomas Harley to an eight-year extension

According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Dallas Stars have made significant progress on an extension for defenseman Thomas Harley. Friedman believes that the extension will likely be an eight-year, $84M ($10.5M AAV) agreement and is expected to occur relatively soon.

It’s a significant agreement for a negotiation that had plenty of question marks. Harley has been a high-scoring blueliner for the Stars over the past three years, but the team was reportedly hesitant to pay him more than Miro Heiskanen’s $8.45M salary.

Considering how much the upper limit of the salary cap has grown since Heiskanen signed his extension in 2021, there was little chance the Stars would get him at or below $8.5M. To add more context, Heiskanen’s deal in 2021-22 accounted for 10.37% of Dallas’ available salary cap space, and Harley’s reported $10.5M salary beginning in 2026-27 would only account for 10.1%, technically making Harley more affordable.

There is little argument that Harley isn’t deserving of the price tag. Since the beginning of the 2023-24 campaign, when Harley became a full-time member of the Stars’ blueline, he has scored 32 goals and 105 points in 166 games for the Stars, with another four goals and 18 points in 37 postseason contests. That makes him the 15th-highest scoring defenseman in the NHL over the last three years, and he’s only 24 years old.

Additionally, he’s earned a +57 rating, 53.3% CorsiFor% at even strength, and 90.8% on-ice save percentage at even strength over that stretch. Not only can he significantly contribute offensively in the NHL, but he’s also an above-average player on the defensive side of the puck.

While there are few concerns about Harley’s projections for the contract’s duration, Dallas’ salary cap situation should raise some red flags. After factoring in the purported deal, the Stars would enter the summer with approximately $17M in cap space. Although some players, such as Adam Erne and Nathan Bastian, are easily replaceable, the Stars will face challenges keeping Jason Robertson, Mavrik Bourque and Nils Lundkvist around on long-term deals with that cap space.

Regardless, general manager Jim Nill should be commended for locking in the team’s core for the foreseeable future. Mikko Rantanen, Roope Hintz, Wyatt Johnston, Esa Lindell, Jake Oettinger, Heiskanen and now Harley all signed through the 2029-30 season at the very least, guaranteeing Dallas a competitive roster into the next decade.