Matt Duchene, Stars Agree to 4-Year, $18M Contract Extension Ahead of NHL Free Agency

Matt Duchene is staying in Dallas for another four years.

Duchene and the Dallas Stars have agreed to a four-year, $4.5 million AAV contract that runs through the 2028-29 season, the team announced on Thursday.

Duchene, 34, played the last two seasons on one-year deals with the Stars.

He earned his long-term contract after recording a career-high 52 assists and leading the Stars with 82 points last season.

Duchene also joined Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston as the only players to score 30 goals for Dallas during the regular season.

The veteran forward was relatively quiet during the playoffs. He was held without a goal for the first two rounds of the postseason.

He finally broke through to help the Stars claim victory in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, but was held without a point as Dallas lost four straight and was eventually eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers.

Duchene's potential free agency value was still high, especially given that the salary cap is increasing by $7.5 million next season.

Coming off a point-per-game campaign and a fourth career 30-goal season, Duchene could have potentially sought a higher AAV through another short-year deal on the open market.

But Duchene, who originally joined the Stars after he was bought out by the Nashville Predators in 2023, said after Dallas' elimination that his goal was to land long-term security.

"I think at this point as a family, my kids are getting to the point where I’m looking for some stability," Duchene said. “One-year deals are tough."

Duchene now has what he was looking for in a long-term commitment from a club he described as the "most dominant regular-season team" he's ever played for.

The Stars will meanwhile bring back a productive player at arguably below market price. Getting a second-line center for $4.5 million will help the franchise navigate an upcoming cap crunch complicated by Jamie Benn's free agency and potential extension negotiations with Robertson.

Dallas will need to make more moves to bring back their team captain next season. The team was left with under $500,000 in projected 2025-26 cap space after signing Duchene, per PuckPedia.

Duchene ranks top 20 among all active NHL skaters with 891 career points, which he recorded in 1,138 games and 16 seasons split among the Stars, Predators, Colorado Avalanche, Ottawa Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets. His new contract will keep him in Dallas through his age-38 season.