Jake Oettinger Signs 8x$8.25M Extension

The Dallas Stars announced today that they had signed goaltender Jake Oettinger to an eight year, $8.25M AAV extension.

It's a deal that, not coincidentally, perfectly matches the deal Jeremy Swayman signed with the Boston Bruins before the start of the season. The situations are slightly different, of course — Swayman was an RFA coming off a one year, $3.745M deal awarded in arbitration, while Oettinger is still under contract in the third year of a 3x$4M deal. Furthermore, Swayman has better numbers than Oettinger (as David Castillo broke down here ), although Oettinger has borne the brunt of a starter role for three years while this is Swayman spent those years as a 1A/1B to Linus Ullmark.

Still, after news of Swayman's signing, it was reasonable to assume Oettinger would get a similar deal. In fact, it's highly likely that Oettinger's camp was specifically waiting for Swayman's deal (which, given his unsigned status, would have to come first) before coming to an agreement, whereas Dallas might have preferred to lock up Oettinger earlier this offseason at a potentially lower price.

The question looming now, of course, is whether Oettinger will be able to live up to his new deal. The Stars' netminder had a rough 2023, starting with a subpar performance in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs followed by the worst season of his young NHL career. He bounced back somewhat in last year's postseason, however, and has been dynamite to start this season, as Robert Tiffin talks about here .

Then again, it's possible that this is simply where the market was heading , and that No. 1 goaltenders are going the way of the NFL QB: if you have one, you have to pay up, regardless of whether you think they're truly "worth it." After all, the Florida Panthers just won a Stanley Cup (and could have won another the year before) off the back of Sergei Bobrovsky, and talented teams like last year's New Jersey Devils or this year's Colorado Avalanche (so far) have struggled with a lack of a bonafide No. 1 goalie.

One thing is for certain, though: the Stars are set between the pipes for the forseeable future, and now have a clearer outlook on what their salary cap considerations are going forward.