Gavin Bayreuther signs one-year, $775,000 deal with Dallas Stars

The Dallas Stars have signed depth defenseman Gavin Bayreuther to a one-year, $775,000 deal for the 2023-24 season.

Bayreuther, 29, returns to the Stars after starting his career with the organization back in 2016-17. The undrafted defenseman made his NHL debut with the Dallas Stars in 2018-19, scoring twice and adding three assists for five points in 19 games. He spent another year in the AHL before joining the Columbus Blue Jackets for 2020-21, where he stuck until this offseason.

Bayruether set a career-high in games played (51), assists (12) and points (14) this past season in Columbus while also registering four points in four AHL games with Cleveland. Bayreuther has five goals and 28 points in 122 career NHL games and could end up getting into many more this year with the Stars.

But it won’t be an easy climb up the standings. The Stars have eight defensemen signed to deals, plus another six in the minors. Bayreuther could bounce between the two teams, but his NHL experience, and low cap hit, is nice to have for a team with just $582,171 in projected cap space right now.