Dan Ellis collected a shutout as the Dallas Stars beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-0 in a preaseason game on Friday. Ellis might just be the first reliable backup that Kari Lehtonen's had in his time with the Stars. That's especially positive since Lehtonen is so injury prone. Ellis could be a nice waiver wire pickup here and there if the Finn in front of him goes down like he often does.

Dan Ellis is thrilled to be back in Dallas, where his pro career began. "It was the No. 1 place. As soon as I became a free agent I looked around the league at places that might have possible openings, and this was by far the No. 1 place I wanted to come back to," Ellis said. "Once you've been the Dallas organization, and you go around to other places, it's hard to reach that level of quality and that level of professionalism. To come back, it was just a really easy choice. I was just glad that they chose me to come back." He spent four seasons with the Stars organization, but played in just one game with the big club. Ellis should get more action than that in 2013-14, but he will be limited to the team's backup role behind Kari Lehtonen.

Dan Ellis will wear number 30 this season. It is a slow news day when a number change is one of the only things to be found on hockey. Ellis wore number 1 during his first stint in Dallas which ran one game in 2003 and wore 31 last season in Carolina.

The Dallas Stars have inked Dan Ellis to a two-year deal. Ellis had a 3.13 GAA and .906 save percentage in 19 games with Carolina in 2013. He will presumably serve as the Stars number two netminder.

Dan Ellis said he's been "talking back and forth" with the Carolina Hurricanes about a new deal. However, he doesn't appear to have an offer on the table yet. Ellis would like to re-sign with the Hurricanes. Carolina GM Jim Rutherford said that the team's unrestricted free agents will probably remained unsigned prior to the start of free agency, but there's still a chance that Ellis will be kept in the fold.

Carolina GM Jim Rutherford may be interested in retaining the services of goaltender Dan Ellis. "I think we had a good one-two punch early in the season with [Cam] Ward and Ellis," Rutherford said. Ellis will be an unrestricted free agent this summer and if the Canes don't bring him back then Justin Peters will likely move into the team's backup role.

Dan Ellis may be permitted to test the waters as an unrestricted free agent this summer. Justin Peters has a one-way contract entering next season, so he probably has an inside track on the team's backup goalie duties.

Dan Ellis is the likely starter for Saturday night's season finale against the Penguins. Nothing official yet, but if we had to bet we would put our money on Ellis.

Dan Ellis took the glass-half-full approach with his team's latest overtime loss. Carolina was down 2-0 after the first period against the Rangers, then tied it in the second and took the lead early in the third. A bad bounce allowed the Rangers to tie it, and a perfect shot from Ryan Callahan sent the Rangers home winners. "We stuck with them," Ellis said. "That's a team that's going to the playoffs and will make a good push. We've got some banged up bodies and are missing some guys but we really worked hard. Tonight, they got a bounce off the boards to tie it up, just one of those freak bounces. And (Callahan) just sneaks it under the bar. I was just off my angle and it was just off my jersey. But we competed hard as a team."

Dan Ellis was beaten four times on 38 shots Thursday as Carolina dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to the Rangers. Ellis has done as much as can be expected with Cam Ward injured, but the difference between the two netminders is very noticeable. You'll have the opportunity to start Ellis once more if you're in desperate need of goaltending.