The Dallas Stars are extending restricted free agent defenseman Thomas Harley to an eight-year contract worth $87 million. His new contract will have an annual average value of $10.5875 million. And who does he have to thank for that number? Luke Hughes of the New Jersey Devils.
Remember, Luke Hughes held out for most of training camp as a restricted free agent seeking a new contract. He was looking to get paid like a top defenseman in the NHL—similar to Jeremy Swayman last year with the Boston Bruins. Though Luke Hughes and Swayman were different types of RFAs, Swayman was looking to reset the market for his peers.
While Swayman may not have reset the goalie market in terms of the highest AAV, he did reset the market for goalies who signed extensions once he did. Remember, Swayman signed an eight-year, $66 million contract with an AAV of $8.250 million on October 6th, 2024, and soon after, his peers followed.
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The likes of Linus Ullmark ($8.250 million over 4 years), Jake Oettinger ($8.250 million over eight years), Thatcher Demko ($8.5 million over three years), and, of course, Igor Shesterkin ($11.5 million over eight years). The Swayman deal then set up Dustin Wolf ($7.5 million over seven years) with the Calgary Flames, Lukas Dostal ($6.5 million over five years) with the Anaheim Ducks, and Filip Gustavsson ($6.8 million over five years) with the Minnesota Wild.
So, in retrospect, he did help the guys behind him, just as Luke Hughes did. Once he signed his seven-year deal at $9 million per season, the Anaheim Ducks signed Jackson Lacombe to an eight-year contract with a $9 million AAV the following day. Which meant Lane Huston of the Montreal Canadiens would get $10 million, right?
“Not so fast, my friend,” as Lee Corso said so on College Gameday so famously for many years until his retirement last season. Hutson ended up signing an eight-year, $8.85 million-per-season deal with the Canadiens, staying within their structure. However, he could have gotten more, but his general manager convinced him and showed him what Connor McDavid did with the Edmonton Oilers; thus, Hutson took less.
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But if you looked at the numbers, there was a justification for Huston to get more than both Hughes and Lacombe based on points and how he was utilized in the Canadiens system. As with Harley, the market based on his play and point production said he was a $10 million defenseman. Not only was he offensively gifted, his defense has vastly improved.
That is something you can say about another $10.5 million defenseman in Evan Bouchard with the Edmonton Oilers. Remember, Bouchard signed a four-year, $10.5 million extension with the Oilers over the summer. While his offensive numbers are excellent, Harley has a better overall game.
Sounds like Thomas Harley is about to get Evan Bouchard money, which makes sense since they are statistical twins (feel free to duke it out in the replies Stars fans and Oilers fans; just don’t expect me to care enough to join in). pic.twitter.com/yFVolfLPDB
— David Castillo (@DavidCastilloAC) October 28, 2025
So the market was set before this Thomas Harley deal with the Stars was finalized. Yes, the Stars and Harley were always working on getting a new extension in place. Stars GM Jim Nill knew there was time, but he also knew the price for Harley was going up. Harley was seen as part of the Stars’ future, so they made sure to lock him up now to make this deal age well.
As we can see, it is becoming a young man’s league. The players who are coming out of their entry-level deals and becoming RFAs are making sure to help the players behind them. Jeremy Swayman did it last year, Luke Hughes did it this year. Expect salaries to keep rising as the salary cap increases.
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