Mavrik Bourque is on the move.
The Dallas Stars are trading the restricted free agent to the Nashville Predators, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported on Wednesday. The Predators announced the deal shortly after.
In addition to landing the 24-year-old forward, Nashville also acquires defenceman Ilya Lyubushkin, per Friedman, while giving up a 2027 second-round pick and a 2028 third-round pick (originally belonging to Vegas) to Dallas in exchange.
Bourque played all 82 games for the Stars last season, tallying 20 goals and 21 assists — both of which are career-highs. Bourque played the 2025-26 campaign on a one-year, $950,000 contract following his entry-level deal. He is a restricted free agent, with Nashville now on the clock to ink him to an extension.
The move protects Dallas from looming speculation about teams targeting Bourque with an offer sheet, and also clears up some cap space by including Lyubushkin (and his $3.25-million AAV) in the deal.
Bourque, who hails from Plessisville, Que., has spent parts of three seasons in the NHL. He has 31 goals and 35 assists in 156 career games. He was selected by the Stars with the 30th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.
Lyubushkin, 32, spent the past two seasons in Dallas and now joins his sixth NHL squad as the Stars offload his salary. The right-shot rearguard began his career in Arizona after going undrafted, and also had brief stints in Toronto (twice), Buffalo, and Anaheim. He's under contract for one more year, having signed a three-year deal with Dallas as a free agent in 2024.
