Dallas Stars: Jim Nill’s Top Ten Offseason Moves Of 2017
By Tom Dorsa
#10 – Shedding Cap Hits For Extra Space
For any off-season moves to come to fruition, the team in question has to first have the salary cap space to afford the transaction and the following paydays. In order to acquire the talent and depth Jim Nill obtained, he had to shed money somewhere.
The money he was able to get rid of belonged to non-essential players, which is a rarity for NHL teams. Not only did Nill take advantage of the Las Vegas-based Expansion Draft, he smartly bought out contracts and simply didn’t resign others.
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The Stars netted nearly $4-million in annual cap space by having Las Vegas claim unprotected centerman Cody Eakin, whose deal took money off the books for Dallas that allowed them to sign other players and give necessary pay-raises to restricted free agents. Rather than paying a player with 12 points last season for the next three years, Nill played his cards right and scored some additional cash.
Antti Niemi, whose time as half of the Dallas Stars goaltending tandem ran out, had his contract bought out, meaning his $4.5-million will now be paid out over two years and at just $1.5 million yearly. Having Ben Bishop and Kari Lehtonen in the crease meant Niemi, who signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins, was obsolete. Nill saved quite a few dollars towards the cap this way.
In addition, Patrick Sharp (Chicago) and Ales Hemsky (Montreal) signed on elsewhere, meaning their cap hits of what would have likely been $1-2 million each are off the table. All in all, Nill saved over $10-million on last season’s salary cap by using an Expansion format and collective bargaining agreement to his favor like no other GM would be able to do.