James Neal, Matt Niskanen Agree To Terms With Dallas Stars

by Adam Gretz

Filed under: Stars

Just a day before the team was set to open training camp, the Dallas Stars made sure all of their players were under contract by agreeing to two-year deals with forward James Neal and defenseman Matt Niskanen. Neal is clearly the big one, as he is one of the clubs best young forwards and a building block going forward. His contract will pay him approximately $2.875 million per year according to the team's official Twitter page.

With an unsettled situation in net (oft-injured Kari Lehtonen is the starter, while his backup could be either Brent Krahn or Andrew Raycroft) and a middle-of-the-pack defense, the Stars are going to need big seasons from their young -- and deep -- group of forwards, including Neal, Jamie Benn and Loui Eriksson, to carry them through the season.

The 23-year-old Neal has played two full seasons with the Stars, never scoring fewer than 24 goals. He's coming off a 2009-10 campaign that saw him tally 27 while skating mostly on a line with Eriksson and Brad Richards. His goal total was good enough for second on the team, trailing only the 29 scored by Eriksson.

 

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