Dallas Stars sign Blackwell to two-year contract

The Dallas Stars are keeping one of their newest acquisitions from the 2024-25 season, signing center Colin Blackwell to a two-year, $1.55 million contract, with an average annual value of $775,000. 

Blackwell, 32, joined the Stars ahead of the 2024-25 season, signing a one-year deal worth $775,000 on the second day of NHL Free Agency in 2024. 

He went on to skate in 63 regular-season games, where he scored six goals and 17 points, before hitting the ice for another 11 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, netting a single goal in the Stars’ run to the Western Conference Final. 

His tallies in 2024-25 brought him to 41 goals and 91 points in 298 games in his NHL career. 

Before coming to the Stars, the native of North Andover, MA played 235 games for the Nashville Predators, New York Rangers, Seattle Kraken, Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Blackhawks, and previously only played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with the Maple Leafs.

Initially selected in the seventh round, 194th overall by the San Jose Sharks in the 2011 NHL Draft, Blackwell played collegiate hockey at Harvard University from 2011 to 2016, before going on to make his professional debut with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda in 2016-17. 

Internationally, Blackwell represented the United States at the 2021 IIHF World Championship, helping the Americans to the bronze medal with four goals in 10 games. 

The Stars finished the 2025-26 NHL season second in the Central Division but fell in five games to the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Final. They will look to take the next step after naming Glen Gulutzan as the head coach replacement for Pete DeBoer.

And with general manager Jim Nill at the helm after winning his third-straight Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award, the organization can likely have some faith in that improvement.