Dallas Stars don’t want Modano

Dallas Stars general manager Joe Nieuwendyk announced today the Stars will not offer a contract extension to Mike Modano.

Modano has been the face of the Stars since the team moved to Dallas from Minnesota.  He is the Stars all-time leading scorer, and the highest scoring American-born player in NHL history.

It was speculated at the end of last season that Modano would not be back.  The Stars even held a tribute to him at the last home game.  Modano will become a free agent July 1 and has yet to announce whether he will play again.

Nieuwendyk, who won the Stanley Cup as a team-mate of Modano, said he would welcome Modano into a non-player position with the franchise,  “I’ve said to Mike repeatedly that he has to know what direction he wants to go with this. Mike has to decide which area he wants to get into, and I think we’ll make a fit in whatever he wants to do. If and when he decides to stop playing, the door will always be open for him here.”

As a player, Modano has scored 557 goals, and holds franchise records in 15 different regular season categories and 11 postseason categories.