One more piece of the Chicago Blackhawks’ Cup-winning roster is not returning to the team. Defenseman Johnny Oduya announced today that he has signed a two-year contract with the Dallas Stars.
The deal carries an AAV of $3.75 million and carries a partial no trade clause (12-team no trade list), according to War on Ice.
Oduya, who will turn 34 before the start of the season, scored two goals and eight assists through 76 games this season.
PERISCOPE?! Not today.
BREAKING: #Stars sign D-man Johnny Oduya to a two-year contract. READ: http://t.co/TWAEKTLwPl pic.twitter.com/AGyly6B0e5
— Dallas Stars at NHL All-Star (@DallasStars) July 15, 2015
While Dallas fans are excited, Oduya isn’t the unquestioned 1D the team has been looking for. He’s had some solid seasons previously, but last season he posted the worst dCorsi of his career, showing that he’s not performing up to par with his usage, which was as a second pairing D. His dCorsi of -138.57 last year was the worst of his career.
In five of the last six seasons, Oduya has posted a negative score-adjusted relative Corsi, including a -3% mark last season and a -3.7% the season before.
His Wins Above Replacement (WAR) of -1.38 also indicates that his game isn’t where it once was.
Dallas is going to be one of the more frightening groups at forward, particularly with the addition of Patrick Sharp, and the Oduya signing improves the team on defense, but their D group still has holes. They lack a 1D and have a ton of promising young players, but they’ll need them to step up in a group that includes Oduya, John Klingberg, Alex Goligoski, Jason Demers Jyrki Jokipakka, Patrik Nemeth, Jordie Benn, Jamie Oleksiak, Julius Honka and the newly acquired Stephen Johns.
RELATED: Dallas Stars Now Swimming in Quality Defensive Prospects
Advanced Stats, including WAR and Stephen Burtch’s dCorsi courtesy of War on Ice
