NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Mavrik Bourque signed his six-year, $33 million contract with the Nashville Predators three days after the Dallas Stars traded him. On NHL Network’s “NHL Tonight” on Aug. 31, the 24-year-old forward said the length of the deal told him where he stood with his new team.
The contract, signed July 4, carries a $5.5 million cap hit through the 2031-32 season. Bourque can become an unrestricted free agent after it expires. Before the trade, he was a restricted free agent with arbitration rights coming off a one-year, $950,000 contract with Dallas.
On July 1, the Stars sent Bourque and defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin to Nashville for the Predators’ second-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft and a 2028 third-round pick that originally belonged to the Vegas Golden Knights. TSN’s Chris Johnston reported the same day that Bourque had been viewed as an offer sheet candidate and that the Predators were already working toward an extension.
Bourque knew a trade was likely, and he wants to prove to Nashville that the deal was worth making.
“You get traded, you’re not really sure,” Bourque said. “I knew I was gonna probably get moved, and obviously getting to a place where the team offers you a six-year deal, it means you mean something to them. And at the same time, on my side, I want to show them that they did the right move.”
Bourque also said on the show that Dallas felt like home and that he did not want to be traded.
Jim Nill On Why Dallas Could Not Keep Bourque
Stars general manager Jim Nill said on July 1 that Bourque’s next contract, after the one-year deal Bourque took in 2025, was headed to a number Dallas could not fit under the cap, according to NHL.com.
“We love Mavrik. Good player for us,” Nill said. “His game’s really come along. MVP of the American League, and his game got better and better. Been a good, young player for us. Unfortunately, he’s a casualty of the cap world. You have to be cap compliant, and those decisions have to be made. He did a good job. His contract was coming up. He bet on himself last year, and where his contract was going, it was something that we wouldn’t be able to fit in. You can’t fit everybody in. It’s just part of the business.”
Dallas drafted Bourque 30th overall in 2020 and signed him to a three-year entry-level contract on March 1, 2021. The one-year, $950,000 deal he signed in 2025 followed a rookie season of 11 goals, 14 assists, and 25 points in 73 games.
In 2025-26, Bourque set career highs with 20 goals, 21 assists, and 41 points in 82 games. His average ice time went up to 15:29 per game. He added 1 goal in 6 playoff games before the Minnesota Wild eliminated Dallas in the first round.
Lyubushkin, 32, is in the final season of a three-year contract with a $3.25 million cap hit. He had 1 goal, 8 assists, and 9 points in 53 games for the Stars last season. He can become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
What The Extension Means For Nashville’s Cap
Bourque’s $5.5 million cap hit runs six seasons. He will be 30 when it expires. The Predators also took on Lyubushkin’s $3.25 million for one season in the same trade.
Nashville had been eliminated from playoff contention on April 13 and missed the postseason for a second straight year. Chris MacFarland was hired as the Predators’ president of hockey operations and general manager on June 2, and the Bourque trade followed his trades with the Colorado Avalanche on June 16 and June 24.
Bourque has 31 goals, 35 assists, and 66 points in 156 career regular-season games, all with Dallas. The Predators open their preseason schedule on Sept. 20 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
