Ontario Junior Hockey League alumnus Joel Hanley has signed a two-year contract extension with the Dallas Stars.  

The Stars announced on April 14 that they re-signed the former Newmarket Hurricanes defenceman to a two-year contract extension worth $750,000 AAV (annual average value). 

Hanley played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey Association from 2007-10. He first played in Georgina as a 16-year-old member of his hometown Junior C Ice.

Hanley then moved up to play Junior A for two-plus seasons in Newmarket where scored 19 goals and had 58 points. Hanley was named Rookie of the Year in the OJHL Central Division in 2008-09.

After his time in the OHA, Hanley played four seasons of NCAA D1 hockey at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

The Keswick native signed his first professional contract with American Hockey League’s (AHL) Portland Pirates in 2014. He spent the better part of two seasons between Portland and Gwinnett (ECHL) before landing in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens in 2015. 

Hanley was recalled by the Canadiens in March of 2016 and made his NHL debut March 16 in what was a 4-1 loss to the Calgary Flames. 

In the seasons since his time in Montreal, Hanley has spent time playing in the Arizona Coyotes organization (Tuscon Roadrunners) and more recently with the Dallas Stars and Texas Stars whom he signed with in 2018. 

Hanley’s first NHL goal was an exciting one as it came in the first period of Game 1 of the Dallas Stars/Tampa Bay Lightning Stanley Cup final. To date, Hanley has 12 assists in 70 regular season NHL games and one goal, one assist in 12 NHL playoff games. 

In 2020-21, Hanley has been a regular in the Stars lineup and has played 24 games. Hanley has also logged career highs with 25 hits and 21 blocked shots this year despite missing time due to injury earlier.

With files from the Ontario Hockey Association