Martin Hanzal will sign with the Dallas Stars, per report

The Dallas Stars and center Martin Hanzal have agreed to new contract, reports TSN insider Bob McKenzie.

McKenzie also reported terms of the deal: three years, $4.75 million per season.

Hanzal was one of the top centers available on a relatively thin free agent market. He’s got big-time size (6’6, 226 pounds), wins faceoffs, and can toss in a decent amount of goals each season.

A longtime member of the Arizona Coyotes, Hanzal got traded last season to the Minnesota Wild in a midseason deal. The Wild were hoping he’d be the final piece to a playoff run, but they flamed out in the first round as Hanzal recorded just one point in five games. Sometimes those trade rentals don’t quite work out.

Hanzal was better in the regular season, where he finished with a career-high 20 goals and 19 assists in 71 games. He was also great at faceoffs (56.4 percent) and posted a plus-3.2 percent Corsi relative, so he was successful at driving possession, too.

Among two-way centers available this summer, there weren’t many better than Hanzal. He immediately gives Dallas better depth up the middle, though the Stars already have a third-line center in Radek Faksa who brings many of the same qualities Hanzal possesses.

Dallas did have the worst penalty kill of any NHL team in 20 years last season, so Hanzal will certainly help in that regard as new coach Ken Hitchcock tries to bring structure to his team.

Other top available forwards include Alexander Radulov, Patrick Marleau, Radim Vrbata, Thomas Vanek, and Sam Gagner.