
Dallas Stars re-sign Matt Duchene to a 4-year, $18 million contract
FRISCO, Texas (AP) — The Dallas Stars have re-signed forward Matt Duchene to a four-year contract worth $18 million.
General manager Jim Nill announced the deal Thursday. Duchene will count $4.5 million against the salary cap through the 2028-29 season.
'We are thrilled to have Matt back with our organization,' Nill said in a statement. 'As our team's leading scorer last season, he helped to solidify our forward group while also providing invaluable leadership off the ice and in the community. The fit with Matt and our team has been seamless from the start, and we're looking forward to continuing to pursue our shared goal of bringing a championship to Dallas.'
Duchene was a point-a-game scorer — exactly 82 in 82 — in his second season with Dallas. He had just one goal and five assists in 16 playoff games as the Stars reached the Western Conference final before losing to Edmonton.
Now 34, Duchene is going into his 17th season in the NHL. He previously played for Colorado, Columbus, Ottawa and Nashville since making his debut in 2009.
___
AP NHL:
https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Fox Sports
28 minutes ago
- Fox Sports
Cubs legend Sammy Sosa returns to Wrigley Field after 20-plus-year hiatus
Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Legendary Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa returned to Wrigley Field for the first time in more than 20 years on Friday before Chicago's afternoon game with the Seattle Mariners. Sosa, who is set to be inducted into the Cubs' team Hall of Fame this year, arrived at the iconic North Side ballpark in a black SUV. He was greeted by owner Tom Ricketts, who embraced him in a hug as he exited the vehicle. Sosa became the face of the Cubs franchise where he played 13 seasons after coming in a trade from the crosstown White Sox in March 1992. A seven-time All-Star, Sosa hit 545 homers in 1,811 games with the Cubs and hit a franchise-record 66 in 1998 when he was named the NL's MVP. Sosa, now 56, played his final game with the Cubs at Wrigley on Oct. 2, 2004, when he homered and had two hits in an 8-6 loss to Atlanta. During his years with the Cubs, Sosa appeared to bulk up drastically and was a headliner in a generation of baseball's biggest names linked to performance-enhancing drugs. The Cubs traded him to Baltimore with cash in February 2005 for three players. Sosa appeared to acknowledge using performance-enhancing drugs in December when he released a statement saying he was sorry for mistakes, without specifying them. 'There were times I did whatever I could to recover from injuries in an effort to keep my strength up to perform over 162 games,' he said in the statement. 'I never broke any laws. But in hindsight, I made mistakes and I apologize.' On Friday morning, Sosa posed for photos with rising Cubs star Pete Crow-Armstrong outside the team's clubhouse and a video showed Sosa embracing manager Craig Counsell in his office before the game. '(Sosa) saw the wind blowing out today and planned this trip around a good day to be here,' Counsell joked. 'He asked to be in the lineup because the wind's blowing out.' The Cubs remained mum on any ceremony or event before or during Friday's game. In Thursday's 8-7 loss to Milwaukee, Crow-Armstrong went deep to set a new team record for reaching 20 homers and 20-plus stolen stolen bases the fastest, doing it in 73 games. Sosa had the old mark of 96, set in 1994. Counsell, who faced Sosa as a player, saluted the former slugger for his strength at the plate and long homers, as well as star power. 'Probably the best thing, Sammy was a true entertainer," Counsell said. "I think when you're in this long enough, you realize that's part of this. 'We're also here to entertain and I think Sammy was great at that.' ___ AP MLB: recommended
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
As Micah Parsons contract negotiations continue, Cowboys should remember the key ingredient to their ‘instant grits' defense
When the Dallas Cowboys secondary took the field in recent years, they waited for the signal. How quickly should they expect their opponent to get the ball out? Al Harris, Dallas' defensive backs coach from 2021-24, would give them a clue. Advertisement 'I used to say, 'Instant grits,'' Harris told Yahoo Sports recently from Chicago, where he's now the Bears' defensive backs coach and defensive pass game coordinator. 'When you boil water, you just put the grits in there. So it's funny because [the defensive backs] would be like, 'Hey, how the grits?'' In other words: How effective was the Cowboys' pass rush at pressuring and hurrying the quarterback? Harris' metaphor came in handy most when edge rusher Micah Parsons was healthy. Harris, also the Cowboys' assistant coach last year, knew which play calls gave the two-time All-Pro edge rusher the green light to pressure and when his defensive backs should be ready accordingly. Injuries limited Parsons to 13 games in 2024, but Parsons nonetheless finished with the fifth-most quarterback pressures in the league. With 75 total pressures, his 5.77 per game led the league among defenders who played at least a third of the season, per NFL Next Gen Stats. Advertisement Next Gen Stats credits a defender with a quarterback pressure when the defender tallies a sack; gets within 2 yards of a quarterback at a forward pass; or within 1.5 yards of the quarterback at any point in the play. Parsons has met those criteria 335 times in four regular seasons with Dallas. He's raced to 52.5 sacks in that period. Harris learned to tee off his secondary to takeaway opportunities Parsons' pressure would create. 'It'd be like second quarter [and I'd say,] 'Hey, grits hot,'' Harris said. 'They'll give me a chance to watch Micah rush a couple of times to where I say, 'OK, he's going to beat these guys all day. And I just say, 'Hey man, grits hot, so let's get to the ball. Advertisement ''Let's get to the ball.'' The Cowboys' success in head coach Brian Schottenheimer's first season leading the team will hinge heavily on Parsons' dominance. Dallas' 2021 first-round pick is a game-wrecker. And the Cowboys are currently negotiating an extension with Parsons. Closing the deal hasn't gone as quickly as cooking instant grits. But will Dallas and Parsons find a middle ground soon? Parsons attended minicamp practices this month as he enters the final year of his contract, the fifth-year option of his rookie deal that Dallas picked up. Schottenheimer praised Parsons' attendance. 'I think it just shows you he's serious about what we've talked about, which is developing that leadership mentality, the mindset to be a guy that we can count on —and not just the fourth quarter when he's got to make a big sack or get pressure on the quarterback, but just in general throughout the course of a week,' Schottenheimer told reporters. 'He's doing the things he's supposed to do in terms of he's training, he's prepping, he's been in, he's been out. Advertisement 'Nobody's more excited than Micah about what we're building here.' Quarterback Dak Prescott said the locker room is 'very confident that Micah's going to get this deal done,' with Prescott understanding the business considerations after negotiating two extensions with the Cowboys himself. Will Dallas close the deal before the Cowboys' charter is scheduled to arrive in Oxnard, Calif. on July 20 for training camp? 'I'm pretty hopeful,' Parsons said of that timeline. 'I'm still hanging tight. I understand it's up to [Jerry Jones] and he gives the green light on everything. So hopefully something's done by next month.' Advertisement Until then, Parsons said he'll continue to learn the Cowboys' new defensive system under coordinator Matt Eberflus, as Parsons gives pointers to teammates while at the facility and training with cornerback Trevon Diggs while away from it. 'The simple things,' he said of his guidance. 'It's not always the major things that make football great. It's always the small details, the footwork, the positioning, the angles. 'We'll watch film together and I can tell guys what I see from a vetted experience.' Parsons plans to attend training camp with or without a deal, he said, already reserving a house for his family in California during the Cowboys' nearly four weeks there. Would he practice without a deal? 'We'll see,' Parsons said. 'Time will tell.'


San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Cubs legend Sammy Sosa returns to Wrigley Field after 20-plus year hiatus
CHICAGO (AP) — Legendary Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa returned to Wrigley Field for the first time in more than 20 years on Friday before Chicago's afternoon game with the Seattle Mariners. Sosa, who is set to be inducted into the Cubs' team Hall of Fame this year, arrived at the iconic North Side ballpark in a black SUV. He was greeted by owner Tom Ricketts, who embraced him in a hug as he exited the vehicle. Sosa became the face of the Cubs franchise where he played 13 seasons after coming in a trade from the crosstown White Sox in March 1992. A seven-time All-Star, Sosa hit 545 homers in 1,811 games with the Cubs and hit a franchise-record 66 in 1998 when he was named the NL's MVP. Sosa, now 56, played his final game with the Cubs at Wrigley on Oct. 2, 2004, when he homered and had two hits in an 8-6 loss to Atlanta. During his years with the Cubs, Sosa appeared to bulk up drastically and was a headliner in a generation of baseball's biggest names linked to performance-enhancing drugs. The Cubs traded him to Baltimore with cash in February 2005 for three players. Sosa appeared to acknowledge using performance-enhancing drugs in December when he released a statement saying he was sorry for mistakes, without specifying them. 'There were times I did whatever I could to recover from injuries in an effort to keep my strength up to perform over 162 games,' he said in the statement. 'I never broke any laws. But in hindsight, I made mistakes and I apologize.' On Friday morning, Sosa posed for photos with rising Cubs star Pete Crow-Armstrong outside the team's clubhouse and a video showed Sosa embracing manager Craig Counsell in his office before the game. '(Sosa) saw the wind blowing out today and planned this trip around a good day to be here,' Counsell joked. 'He asked to be in the lineup because the wind's blowing out.' The Cubs remained mum on any ceremony or event before or during Friday's game. In Thursday's 8-7 loss to Milwaukee, Crow-Armstrong went deep to set a new team record for reaching 20 homers and 20-plus stolen stolen bases the fastest, doing it in 73 games. Sosa had the old mark of 96, set in 1994. Counsell, who faced Sosa as a player, saluted the former slugger for his strength at the plate and long homers, as well as star power. 'We're also here to entertain and I think Sammy was great at that.' ___