Stars to sign Wyatt Johnston to massive extension

According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, the Dallas Stars have agreed to a five-year, $42M extension with forward Wyatt Johnston.

It’s not the long-term eight-year deal Jeff Marek alluded to a few days ago, but it’s still a solid bit of work from general manager Jim Nill. The likely comparable to Johnston’s negotiations was Detroit Red Wings’ forward Lucas Raymond, who signed an eight-year, $64.6M extension in mid-September. Johnston got a comparative salary bump with an $8.4M AAV and can walk right into unrestricted free agency after the 2029-30 NHL season.

There’s no questioning he’s earned that salary. Since debuting with the Stars in 2022-23, Johnston has scored 79 goals and 165 points in 226 games, averaging 17:02 ice time per game. That point production is the highest of the 2021 NHL Draft class by a 29-point margin. Unlike many centers in his age group, Johnston has also demonstrated maturity in the faceoff dot with a career success rate of 48.5%.

Johnston has also been an important factor for the Stars come playoff time. He tied for the team lead in scoring during last year’s postseason run, scoring 10 goals and 16 points in 19 contests. His production has been indispensable for the Stars, and it should remain that way, considering he’s 21 years old.

Next summer, questions will likely be raised in Dallas regarding the Stars’ salary cap situation. The team has added $20.4M to next year’s cap with the recent contract extension for  Mikko Rantanen. While this shouldn’t heavily impact the team in the upcoming season—aside from possibly losing their aging captain, Jamie Benn—the long-term implications for the 2026-27 season could be concerning. Jason Robertson, who will be a restricted free agent after the 2025-26 season, is just three years away from unrestricted free agency and has proven himself worthy of a raise from his current $7.75M salary. This could pose a challenge for the Stars in fitting his new salary within the cap at that time.