The Dallas Stars are trading defenseman Matt Dumba and their 2028 second-round pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for defenseman Vladislav Kolyachonok, reports Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Both teams have since announced the trade, which doesn’t include any salary retention. Completing the deal will make the Stars cap-compliant for the 2025-26 season. Even if Dallas has Kolyachonok on its opening night roster, he costs the league minimum $775K against the cap. That’s $2.975M less than Dumba’s $3.75M cap hit, since Pittsburgh takes on the totality of his salary with no retention on Dallas’ part. That savings puts Dallas, which is currently $1.79M above the upper limit, back under the cap. The Stars signed Dumba to a two-year, $7.5M contract in free agency last summer, viewed as a risky commitment at the time after the 6-foot-1 righty had just 12 points and a -18 rating in 76 games with the Arizona Coyotes and Tampa Bay Lightning the year prior. The fears around the contract were quickly realized.
