For the latest, follow The Athletic's NHL free agency live tracker.
Mason Marchment signed with the Dallas Stars on a four-year contract worth $4.5 million per year, the team announced Wednesday. He recorded 18 goals and 29 assists in 54 games with the Panthers last season.
In 91 NHL games (with the Panthers and Maple Leafs) the 27-year-old Marchment has notched 58 points and is a plus-33. In 10 NHL playoff games, Marchment has scored three goals and is a minus-5.
Dallas went 46-30-6 last season and pushed the Calgary Flames to seven games in the first round of the playoffs.
(Photo: Jim Rassol / USA Today)
Why did the Stars decide to sign Marchment?
Saad Yousuf, Stars beat writer: The Stars had two big needs entering free agency: top-four defensemen and middle-six forward help. Unless they made any trades to ship out salary, they had the cap space to make one impact acquisition and they chose to go with the forward.
The Stars have been one of the lowest scoring teams in the NHL over the last four years so they're hoping Marchment's production last season escalates with a bigger opportunity in Dallas with more minutes.
Advertisement
Is this a good fit for the price?
Yousuf: This has the potential to be a good fit for the price but it just comes after a very limited sample size. Marchment's path to the NHL took some time after he entered the fold as an undrafted player.
Despite Marchment being 27 years old, the Stars are banking on his trajectory to continue to go up. If it does, and the cap goes up in a couple of years, Marchment could be one of the better deals on the team.
If he's reached his playmaking ceiling, the price is just fine. But if his production last season was an aberration and a result of playing on the highest-scoring team in the NHL, it would join a few bad contracts up front for the Stars.
ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57k2ptbnBpa3xzfJFrZmlvX2aAcLDApaOaq12owaK%2B0maqop%2BeYrqiv86nZKaZopi1rrHNrWStp11perqxwKtknKeeqb%2Bir9No