With Benn signed, Stars GM Nieuwendyk turns attention to Derek Roy

On Thursday, Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk took care of business by inking forward Jamie Benn — the club’s lone All-Star last season — to a five-year, $26.25 million deal.

Now, it’s onto the next thing.

Nieuwendyk told Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News his attention shifts to re-signing Derek Roy to a contract extension.

Roy, acquired from Buffalo in exchange for Steve Ott during the offseason, is in the final year of a six-year, $24 million deal.

“We’ll start that soon,” Nieuwendyk said when asked about a Roy contract extension. “He’s a smart, two-way player, and he’s only going to get better as he gets to know our team.

“It’s a priority for us.”

Roy is 29 (30 in May) and has two points in four games for the Stars this season, averaging 19:47 of ice time. At his peak, he was a solid scorer — 81 points in 78 games in 2007-08 — but has been on a steady slide ever since, scoring 70, 69, 35 (in 35 games mind you) and 44 points in the four seasons since.

That said, a large part of Roy’s struggles were due to a serious quadriceps tendon injury and slow recovery from it.

It sounds as though Roy will be part of the long-term plan in Dallas. Based on the cap numbers — and the willingness of new owner Tom Gaglardi to spend money — the Stars have invested a significant chunk of change in a core group featuring Benn, Alex Goligoski, Loui Eriksson, Trevor Daley and Kari Lehtonen, all signed through 2016.

Roy is a bit older than most of the group, but age hasn’t scared off Dallas in the past.

This summer, the Stars spent over $13 million to secure the services of 39-year-old Ray Whitney (for two years) and 40-year-old Jaromir Jagr (for one).