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Dan Hamhuis is a genius signing by Dallas Stars

VANCOUVER, BC - FEBRUARY 18: Dan Hamhuis #2 of the Vancouver Canucks looks on from the bench during their NHL game against the Anaheim Ducks at Rogers Arena February 18, 2016 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images)
(Photo by Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images)

The last time Dan Hamhuis hit free agency, it was a giant mess.

Please recall how the Philadelphia Flyers acquired his negotiating rights. Then the Pittsburgh Penguins made a trade with the Flyers – which is Haley’s Comet rare – to get those rights after Hamhuis passed on the Flyers. And then he ended up signing a $27-million, six-year contract with the Vancouver Canucks after all of that was done.

This time, it was a little bit easier: Hamhuis signed a two-year, $7.5-million deal with the Dallas Stars. That’s a $3.75 million cap hit.

That’s a great, great deal for the Stars.

Dallas already had a need for more veteran efficiency on the blueline, a need that was only intensified when Alex Goligoski was traded to the Arizona Coyotes. Hamhuis is the goods, and his analytics are strong as well:

The projection for the Stars is to have Hamhuis, 33, move in for Goligoski and play with John Klingberg, with Johnny Oduya and Stephen Johns as the second paring.

Of course, Hamhuis could have been a Dallas Star last season at the trade deadline, but the Canucks whiffed at the trade deadline.

“The trade deadline was a crazy time for us. Dallas was one of the teams we would have been excited to go to,” said Hamhuis on TSN. “We’re firmly rooted in Vancouver. We loved playing for the organization. But the trade deadline opened us up to change.”

And now change has arrived, as Hamhuis heads to the Stars.

“Dallas checked so many boxes for us, starting with the window that they’re in,” he said.

The question is whether change could continue for Hamhuis next summer. Mike Heika reports that he has a limited no-trade clause, which means that he doesn’t have to be protected in the Las Vegas expansion draft.

Which might further explain the two-year term.

Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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