The Dallas Stars and general manager Jim Nill have made their first trade ahead of Friday’s deadline — addressing one of the team’s primary needs.
The Stars acquired veteran defenseman Tyler Myers from the Vancouver Canucks, the team announced Wednesday.
In exchange, the Stars are sending a 2027 second-round pick and a 2029 fourth-round pick to Vancouver. The Canucks are retaining 50% of the remainder of Myers’ contract, meaning his AAV in Dallas will be $1.5 million for the remainder of this season and next. Myers will be a free agent in 2027.
“Tyler is a veteran defenseman that will immediately add to our group,” Nill said in a statement. “His ability to play on the right side will give us an added element of flexibility on the blue line. We would like to welcome Tyler and his family to Dallas.”
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Myers, a native Texan from Houston, is in his 17th NHL season. The 36-year-old blue liner has played for Buffalo (2009-15), Winnipeg (2015-19) and Vancouver (2019-present). He has eight points (one goal, seven assists) in 57 appearances this season, averaging 20:13 minutes of ice time.
When Myers takes the ice for Dallas, which could be as soon as Friday against Colorado, he will be the first player in franchise history born in the state of Texas to appear in a Stars regular-season game.
“I was born in Texas, I have some family ties still down in Texas,” Myers told reporters after the trade. “So that was very exciting. Just one of the reasons why Dallas was a preference. We’re incredibly excited to be joining the team, and already a great team. And very excited to get back down south again.”
The veteran had a no-move clause on his contract, meaning he was able to dictate where the Canucks would trade him. Last week, Myers stated Dallas was his destination of choice, but the question was whether a deal could come to fruition.
“[Dallas] just basically checked all the boxes,” Myers said. “Obviously had three or four teams that were a preference for us. Dallas was one of them. And when we found out they had some mutual interest, we pushed hard to get it done.”
While Myers is towards the end of his career, he helps Dallas address a primary need for the rest of this season and next on the right side of the blue line.
Dallas has plenty of talented left-handed defensemen, including Miro Heiskanen, Thomas Harley, Esa Lindell and Lian Bichsel. Myers will join Nils Lundkvist, Ilya Lyubushkin and Alexander Petrovic on the right side, though Heiskanen has played on the right the last few seasons as well.
Myers is also one of the tallest players in the NHL at 6-8, joining 6-7 blue liner Bichsel.
Vancouver retaining 50% of Myers’ salary this year and next is critical, especially as Dallas’ cap situation beyond this summer is largely up in the air until a decision is made on Jason Robertson’s future. The Stars forward is set to be a restricted free agent and due for a significant raise if Dallas wishes to keep him.
Ahead of Friday’s deadline, the Stars could still seek to add a depth forward and have over $5.5 million in cap space to work with.
Dallas has been linked to Myers’ Vancouver teammate Evander Kane and Calgary’s Nazem Kadri and Blake Coleman, a Plano native, who could also have a homecoming this deadline.
While Myers was born in Texas, he moved to Calgary with his dad when he was 10 and later acquired Canadian citizenship.
Myers and Stars captain Jamie Benn were teammates in juniors for the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL from 2007-09. The two also played together for the Canadian junior team in the 2009 World Junior Championships.
“Benny’s one of those friends you keep in touch with even when you don’t see each other,” Myers said. “We’ve talked throughout the entirety of our careers, checking in every once in a while. Obviously a lot more in the last week. I’m excited to join him again, see if we can do something special together.”
Myers’ maternal half-brother is Quentin Grimes, who plays for the Philadelphia 76ers. They are the first set of brothers to play in the NHL and NBA.
Myers was a former first-round pick in 2008 and won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2009-10.
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