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MODANO SEES STARS INSTEAD OF $$$ APRIL 16, 1998 The fact Mike Modano signed a six-year deal with the Dallas Stars is one of the increasingly rare cases of a player deciding to forego every last possible dollar to stay in what he considers a good situation. Granted, Modano is making about double what the Stars wanted to sign him for when the season started, but the contract of $43.5 million over six years was still a compromise on Modano's part. After Sergei Fedorov got the huge front-loaded contract offer from the Carolina Hurricanes this season, the stage was set for Modano to cash in during the free-agent signing period this summer. And the Stars knew full well that the Hurricanes, who were unable to get Fedorov, would have been looking at Modano. "We tried to keep everything very quiet," said Howard Gurowitz, Modano's agent. "But at the bottom of all of this is the fact that Mike wanted to stay in Dallas. It is truly important to him to have a chance to finish his career with the team that drafted him, made him the top pick." To that end, one of the key elements of the contract was a no-trade clause. "There are only, what, a handful of those in the NHL," said Gurowitz. "To us, that was crucial, because Mike does not want to leave. He wants to have a chance to be like Ray Bourque or Steve Yzerman and play his whole career with one team." Modano will also have the advantage of keeping all his marketing rights. Unlike many other stars, this deal does not include many marketing clauses in which the player agrees to do a certain amount of marketing for the team. Modano, the Stars' signature player, will get to keep any marketing money, which should be substantial. The real winner in all of this is every ownership and management team in the NHL. Despite warnings every year that salaries are getting out of control, teams continue to spend wildly for free agents, as the Flyers did in a bid for Chris Gratton last summer, and the Rangers tried to do for Joe Sakic. Modano not only made a cool deal worth about $7.5 million per season, but he also saved some owners from themselves.