Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill Should Be Assigned More Blame
By Tom Dorsa
In a lost season for the Dallas Stars, fans are quick to get frustrated and blame whoever they can. But, are they placing the blame on the right source?
You never want a person who is given a lot of credit when you’re succeeding, but is never given blame when you’re failing around you. Not to say the Dallas Stars should scrap general manager Jim Nill, who is currently in his fourth year in the Stars’ front office, but sadly he fits the bill this year.
Now, the common narrative is to point fingers at the Stars’ flawed yet somewhat successful two-goalie tandem system, but both Kari Lehtonen and Finnish crease-mate Antti Niemi have shown flashes of brilliance over the 2016-17 campaign.
When that fails, the next Dallas scapegoat is their youthful defensive core that features six blueliners under the age of 25 (John Klingberg, Esa Lindell, Jamie Oleksiak, Stephen Johns, Patrik Nemeth, Julius Honka), but in retrospect has not been all too bad this year.
More from Blackout Dallas
- Dallas Stars Traverse City Tournament: Who had great performances?
- Grushnikov and Stankoven lead Dallas Stars to 6-3 win over Columbus
- Dallas Stars prospects look to wrap up tournament with a win
- Burn the tapes: Dallas Stars prospects lose 5-1 to Toronto Maple Leafs
- Dallas Stars look to continue success today against the Maple Leafs
In addition, a name often thrown around over the past few months has been head coach Lindy Ruff, who has evidently failed to keep his players’ trust and support, but has been wildly successful over his NHL career and is the only Stars head coach to secure a playoff berth in the last decade.
So, who’s to blame? Well, he has essentially shaped the face of the franchise with stellar signings and unprecedented trades, but his overall inconsistency spells trouble. His name is Jim Nill.
Like I said, never should the entirety of the blame be assigned to one single figure, but Jim Nill is being cut far too much slack.
This last offseason, his shaky assessment of his depth assets became the primary cause of the Stars’ special team woes; Dallas had the 10th-best penalty kill in the NHL last season due to the likes of Colton Sceviour, Jason Demers, and Vernon Fiddler. This year, the Stars’ PK ranks 30th in the league at 73.0% after losing all three aforementioned players.
The Dallas defense, while not being nearly as bad as fans and pundits make them out to be, have taken a steep fall this season based mostly on Nill’s questionable reading of the blueline’s ability to succeed. Losing Demers as well as puck-moving lefty Alex Goligoski (and also Kris Russell, but let’s not go there) has taken a lot of offensive talent out of his defenders.
John Klingberg has failed to have the same potency as last year, in which the Swede put up 58 points and finished 6th in Norris Trophy voting, largely in part to the absence of Goligoski. Klingberg’s Corsi For Percentage is down from 55.3% – a mark that led all Central Division defensemen – to 49.7% due to playing alongside rookie defenseman Esa Lindell.
From a forward perspective, passing up on the offensive likes of Sam Gagner (34 points), Brandon Pirri (17 points) or P.A. Parenteau (26 points).only to sign Jiri Hudler – who has played in just 24 games and has just seven points – is abysmal.
The exclamation point in the form of the Stars’ dealing top goal-scorer Patrick Eaves to Anaheim in exchange for the draft pick was an indicator of a saddening, lost season.
Next: Stars Dominate In Return From Bye Week, Defeat Coyotes
Now, I never want to point fingers at anyone. But, before you do such to the goalies, the defense, the coaching staff, or anyone, talk about Jim Nill and what he could have done. He’s an offseason maestro, but he missed out on a golden opportunity this season.