Steel signs four-year, $14.8MM extension in Dallas
The Dallas Stars signed forward Sam Steel to a four-year contract extension worth $3.7MM per season, the team announced on September 21, 2026 in a post on X. The deal carries a total value of $14.8MM and begins with the 2027-28 season.
Steel is in the final season of a two-year contract paying $2.1MM AAV, and the new deal buys out what would have been his first four years of unrestricted free agency. It expires after the 2030-31 season, when he turns 33.
Why the Stars paid for the penalty kill
General manager Jim Nill pointed to Steel’s consistency and versatility in the team’s announcement, with particular weight on his shorthanded work.
“His consistency during his time with our team, especially on the penalty kill, plus his versatility has made him a valuable asset to our organization, and we’re happy to be locking him up for the next four seasons.”
Steel leads all Stars forwards in shorthanded ice time with a little over 450 minutes, well clear of Radek Faksa’s 279:25, though the exact span over which those minutes were accumulated is not specified. The commitment follows two Dallas runs to the Western Conference Finals, in which Steel recorded 12 of his 14 career playoff points.
The signing also marks a step up in stability. Steel signed four one-year contracts across three teams, Anaheim, Minnesota and Dallas, before landing in Dallas in 2023 free agency. Since then he has totaled 27 goals and 82 points in 229 games, ninth among Stars forwards over that span.
Where the deal sits in the cap picture
Dallas has roughly $39MM of projected cap space for the upcoming offseason, and Steel’s $3.7MM AAV takes a first bite out of it. Jason Robertson, Tyler Seguin, Joel Kiviranta, Tyler Myers and Lian Bichsel are all on expiring contracts, so the extension is the opening move in a busy stretch for Nill.
No year-by-year salary breakdown for the new contract has been made public.