Stars sign Ben Kraws to one-year contract extension

The Dallas Stars announced on Tuesday that the team has agreed to terms on a one-year, two-way contract extension with goaltender Ben Kraws.

Kraws, a six-foot-five, 24-year-old native of Cranbury, New Jersey, signed with the Stars after his 2023-2024 collegiate season at St. Lawrence University ended.

He then appeared in four games with the Texas Stars to close out that year before splitting his time in 2024-2025 between AHL Texas and the ECHL Idaho Steelheads.

In 40 appearances with Idaho, Kraws posted a 23-12-5 record to go with his .910 save percentage and 2.88 goals against average.

Kraws posted five shutouts in the process, and in his four appearances at the AHL level, he was good for a .889 save percentage and 3.01 goals against average.

The American backstop becomes the fifth goaltender under contract in the Stars organization for the 2025-2026 campaign.

That includes franchise starter Jake Oettinger and backup Casey DeSmith along with non-roster goalies Arno Tiefensee, who signed his entry-level contract in April, and Remi Poirier.

Veteran Magnus Hellberg is an unrestricted free agent, and Kraws was a restricted free agent until this signing was announced.

The Stars finished this season with a regular season record of 50-26-6. The club defeated the Colorado Avalanche and Winnipeg Jets in the first two rounds of the postseason before dropping the Western Conference Final to the Edmonton Oilers in five games.

Goaltending became a hot-button issue around the organization when former head coach Peter DeBoer pulled Oettinger for DeSmith early in the first period of Game 5 against Edmonton after a pair of early goals.

Oettinger, who went 36-18-4 this past season with a .909 save percentage, is tied to the organization through 2033, and the pulling of his franchise goalie in such a high-profile spot likely played a role in DeBoer losing his job.