Johnny Oduya watch ends; signs with Dallas for two years, $7.5M

Johnny Oduya is taking his miraculous abdominal section to the Dallas area.

Dude, took you long enough!

According to War on Ice, the former Blackhawks defenseman signed a two-year, $7.5 million contract to sort of replace Trevor Daley, who was traded by the Stars to Chicago as part of a deal for Patrick Sharp.

“Johnny is a steady, veteran presence on the blueline and he’ll complement our group nicely,” Stars GM Jim Nill said in a statement. “He has achieved a great deal of success, winning the Stanley Cup twice, and his championship-mentality will be valuable in our room.”

The last two days have basically been #OduyaWatch as news trickled out it was between the Stars and the Sabres for the two-time Cup winning defenseman. Clearly he chose a team that had a more ‘win-now’ type core than Buffalo, which is still a few years away. Probably a smart decision for a 33-year-old defenseman. His prior deal was for three years at $10.125 million. 

Oduya is not exactly an offensive dynamo by any stretch. He had 10 points in 76 games with the Blackhawks last season. His career-high came in 2008-09 with the Devils when he had 29 points in 82 games. In Chicago’s Stanley Cup run he had five assists in 23 games and was a minus-4.

With the Blackhawks last season, his 5-on-5 Corsi-For % was at 51.16, according to Natural Stat Trick, but his CF relative percentage was at minus-4.48.  He averaged over 24 minutes per-game in the playoffs, playing a prominent role after injuries decimated Chicago’s D, forcing the eventual champs to essentially go to four defensemen.

Oduya waited on the Blackhawks, believing Chicago was going to try to make his number fit in their tenuous salary cap situation. But with the trade for Daley, the Blackhawks ended up with Oduya’s replacement. Alas, he found a petty good spot, getting to play with Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn and … Patrick Sharp again. 

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper

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