Dallas Stars General Manager Jim Nill announced today that defenseman Maxime Fortunus has been signed to a one-year contract. Per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Fortunus, 27, has skated in 24 games this season for Texas and leads all team defensemen with 16 points (3-13=16). The native of La Prairie, Que., is Texas' all-time franchise leader among defensemen in games played (296), goals (32), assists (89) and points (121). The 5-foot-11, 205-pound defenseman has skated in eight NHL contests, all as a member of the Dallas Stars during the 2009-10 campaign. Fortunus was undrafted and signed his first NHL contract with the Dallas Stars on July 3, 2008.

The team also announced that defenseman Jamie Oleksiak has been reassigned to the Texas Stars, Dallas' development affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL).

Oleksiak, 20, has played seven games for Dallas this season, collecting five shots and two penalty minutes. The 6-foot-7, 250-pound defenseman was originally recalled from Texas on Nov. 30, where he earned five points (3-2=5) and a plus-4 rating in 22 games for the club. The native of Toronto, Ont., was Dallas' first-round selection (14th overall) in the 2011 NHL Draft.