Projecting The Stars: Nils Lundkvist

We’re nearly at the start of the NHL’’s 2024-25 regular season, and THN.com’s Dallas Stars team website is continuing with our player-by-player series of projections for the Stars’ roster this coming year. We’ve moved through Dallas’ group of forwards, and today, we’re looking at young Stars blueliner Nils Lundkvist.

The 24-year-old Lundkvist is a depth defenseman for the Stars at the moment – someone whose best years may yet be ahead, but someone who isn’t necessarily seen as a long-term component of Dallas’ team. He's going to be challenged to improve this season, and if he doesn't, his future with the Stars is going to be in doubt.

Career: 30 assists, 39 points in 144 games

2023-24 Statistics: 17 assists, 19 points in 59 games

Salary Cap Hit: $1.25 million, through 2024-25

Summary of 2023-24 Season: Lundkvist did post career highs in assists and points this past season, but the Swedish blueliner averaged only 14:06 per game in the regular season, an indication of how low he is on Dallas’ depth chart. Lundkvist agreed to a one-year contract extension this summer, but he was the Stars’ seventh D-man in 2023-24, and that’s unlikely to change.

Stars coach Peter DeBoer trusted Lundkvist even less in the playoffs, where Lundkvist averaged only 4:28 in 12 games. The next-most-utilized Dallas defenseman averaged more than seven-and-a-half minutes more than Lundkvist did in the post-season. Lundkvist still has runway left to improve his game, but he’s shown enough to stick around in the short term.

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Projections For 2024-25 Season: Per THN Lineups, Lundkvist is going to be batting newcomer defenseman Brendan Smith for the final spot on Dallas’ third defenseman pairing. Playing a full 82-game regular season is probably not going to happen for Lundkvist, who could be a healthy scratch to start the year if Smith edges him out for a roster spot. But if he can get to the point he’s averaging more time on ice than he’s posted thus far, the Stars will use him as depth and insurance as they grind their way through the regular-season.

Lundkvist is going to be playing for a new contract next summer, but even then, he’s still going to be an RFA who has next-to-no leverage to increase his payday next season. And this past season showed how long he still has to go before he’s anywhere close to an above-average D-man in hockey’s top league.

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