Stars sign Nathan Bastian to one-year contract

On Saturday, Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill announced that the team has signed forward Nathan Bastian to a one-year, one-way contract. The deal will carry a cap hit of $775,000 through the 2025-26 season.

Despite having a rather productive junior career with the Mississauga Steelheads of the Ontario Hockey League, Bastian has been more utilized as a depth player in his time in the NHL. That’s something Nill expects the 27-year-old to bring to the table with his new team.

“Nathan will add forward depth and a physical presence to our lineup, both of which will be valuable to our organization,” Nill said in a release. “We’re looking forward to watching him take the next step of his career with the Stars and are excited to welcome him to Dallas.”

This will be just the second time Bastian will be moving to a different franchise. The Kitchener, Ont. native spent the first four years of his pro career in the New Jersey Devils organization, the team that took him in the second round, 41st overall, of the 2016 NHL Draft. However, Bastian was taken by the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft.

He wasn’t there long, as the Devils claimed him off waivers from the Kraken in November of the 2021-22 campaign. Bastian has spent the last three full seasons with New Jersey. However, injuries and healthy scratches have led to him falling well short of playing a full season with the Devils. Thanks to a jaw ailment this past fall, he appeared in just 59 games, scoring four goals and six assists for 10 points. It was his lowest scoring total since the COVID-shortened 2021 campaign. He played in all five of the Devils’ games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, as the team was eliminated by the Carolina Hurricanes.

In 276 regular-season NHL games, 254 with the Devils, Bastian has posted 33 goals and 35 assists for 68 points. In 17 postseason affairs, he has one goal and one assist.