Dallas Stars Sign Jake Oettinger to 8-Year Extension – Hockey Writers – THW News Desk

After a strong start to his 2024-25 campaign, Jake Oettinger put pen to paper on a long-term extension. He and the Dallas Stars agreed to an eight-year contract with a cap hit of $8.25 million. Although the contract does not begin until 2025-26, he will be the highest-paid netminder behind only Sergei Bobrovsky, Andrei Vasilevskiy, and Connor Hellebuyck.

8x$8.25M to Oettinger https://t.co/YsPEZDhBnQ

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) October 17, 2024

Oettinger is in his fifth season as the Stars' full-time goaltender. Although he's only 25 years old, the 2017 first-round pick has made two appearances in the Western Conference Finals and is a one-time All-Star. Including the postseason, he ranks eighth in Stars franchise history with 139 wins—he could be fourth by the end of the season, needing 24 more to reach that milestone.

In his regular season career, Oettinger has a .914 save percentage, 2.49 goals-against average, and 12.79 goals-against-expectations in 196 appearances. Rivals, Dallas only needs to play better between the pipes to have a chance at the Stanley Cup. They are coming off back-to-back Western Conference Final appearances, coming within two wins of a chance to play for Lord Stanley for the winner-take-all title. The Stars have not gone this far since 1999.

Related: Dallas Stars Jersey History Listed

With most of their core locked up for the future, Dallas' tournament window is very much alive. At the time of signing, they were competing against four teams that had never lost in the NHL (4-0-0), which proves that they are still among the best players in the league. Oettinger has his ups and downs, but it will be up to him to take his team to the next level if they are to punch their ticket to the postseason. There's a reason he gets paid the way he does.