The Dallas Stars signed defenseman Johnny Oduya to a two-year contract Wednesday, the team announced. Financial terms of the contract were not released, but ESPN.com reported it's worth $7.5 million. Oduya, 33, who spent the past four seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks, had two goals and 10 points in 76 regular-season games last season, and had five assists in 22 Stanley Cup Playoff games. He has won the Stanley Cup twice with the Blackhawks in the past three seasons.
Well, I guess The Stars just got a little better defensively.
No long eulogy for Johnny O as I'm still wrung out from the lengthy Sharp farewell piece. During his stay in Chicago Oduya proved to be a very capable 4D, very responsible, decent on breakouts and an excellent shot-blocker. His only glaring weakness was his tendency to lose ground when closing gaps on rushing opponents on his left side but, hey, nobody's perfect. With the Dallas deal, two years at $3.75 per, Oduya earns a modest raise, something The Hawks could not possibly manage at this time.
With that, unless Stan Bowman succeeds in ridding The Hawks of Bickell and/or Versteeg (ha!), it appears that they'll kick off the 2015-16 season with these D:
Keith - Seabrook
Daley - Hjalmarsson
Rundblad - Van Riemsdyk
...or some combination thereof.
Ah, good times.
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