Dallas Stars: Inability To Use Waivers is Detrimental to Stars’ Roster

Rather than try to build the best Dallas Stars team, GM Jim Nill has let waiver eligibility get in the way.

The concept of “waivers” is a tricky one. When a National Hockey League club places a player on waivers, they risk losing their player’s contract and rights, as all other teams have the option of absorbing the player’s deal. If they do, that player – their contract, playing rights, and all things that pertain to them – are off the books.

Not every player is eligible for waivers, however. In most cases, players on two-way contracts and entry-level contracts can be assigned to any minor league, NHL, or junior rosters with no risk – these players are generally prospects that see some NHL time but haven’t yet graduated to the big leagues.

The majority of NHL veterans, though, have to pass through the waiver wire to be assigned to the American Hockey League or elsewhere. Example: you’ll never see it happen, but if the Dallas Stars wanted to waive Jamie Benn, he would have to pass through the other 30 teams prior to being sent to the AHL. Whereas youthful players such as Denis Gurianov and Jason Dickinson can be recalled, reassigned, recalled, reassigned, recalled, and reassigned with no ramifications.

Some general managers are skeptical of waivers, as they would rather trade a player away than lose them for nothing. This, of course, is the line of thinking employed by Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill. Nill is infamous for leaving waiver-exempt players down for way too long and using valuable roster spots on lesser athletes due solely their waiver status.

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In the case of the Dallas Stars defensive core, this is all too obvious. Head coach Ken Hitchcock has gushed over Julius Honka during training camp and preseason, describing him as a surefire “NHL defenseman.” Hitchcock, however, has talked favorably of 6’7″ defenseman Jamie Oleksiak, stating he’s a “top-four guy.” You can’t have both Honka and the Big Rig, right?

Not with guys like Esa Lindell, John Klingberg, Dan Hamhuis, Marc Methot, and Stephen Johns in the presumed opening night defensive lineup, in addition to Greg Pateryn and Patrik Nemeth to handle can you have both. What does Nill, in collaboration with Hitchcock, do? Let’s have waiver eligibility decide.

Oleksiak, Nemeth, and Pateryn – the three originally competing for the job as the Dallas Stars’ 7th defenseman – all require waivers to be sent down to the NHL. None of the three hold more than a very small amount of value on the trade market, and again, Jim Nill is very rarely someone who will allow his players to walk without a return.

Julius Honka has played just 16 NHL games, spending each of the last three years with the AHL’s Texas Stars. Honka could be sent down to Cedar Park by the snap of the fingers, and unfortunately, that could be the final deciding factor.

Jim Nill, in his tenure as the Stars’ general manager, has only used waivers to claim two players, losing the same amount of players this way. Forward Dustin Jeffrey was claimed from the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2013, and defenseman David Schlemko found himself in Victory Green in January of 2015.

Schlemko, as well as Kevin Connauton, were claimed from waivers in the 2014-15 season, which seemingly destroyed Nill’s overall line of thinking regarding waivers.

Nill is one of the best general managers in the NHL, but he’s also maniacally obsessed with trades and the return of value (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but terrible in cases like this). Nill is placing the waiver status of guys like Honka over their undeniable talent and letting his fear of losing a player for nothing get in the way of building the best possible hockey team. It’s extremely detrimental to the Dallas Stars. There’s no reason for this.

While Oleksiak still perhaps has some value, he isn’t the player Julius Honka is; Honka is a better player in essentially every capacity from an eye test standpoint and one based on advanced metrics. Even if Oleksiak deserves a shot on account of the training camp and preseason impression he’s made, Honka could still find himself in the fold. There’s no reason for this.

The Stars could simply act like this in their managerial moves: roll with Ken Hitchcock’s desired six-defensemen alignment, being Lindell-Klingberg, Methot-Oleksiak, Hamhuis-Honka (Johns), and waiving Nemeth and Pateryn. Also, Nill noted the possibility of starting the season with eight defensemen, meaning one of Nemeth and Pateryn don’t even have to touch the waiver wire. There’s no reason for this.

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Honka has been an NHL-ready defender for a year. He looks bored down in the AHL and was a Corsi For player of 54% last season. To have Honka over-ripen is to risk his career becoming similar to Nemeth’s: never, ever getting a real chance at solid playing time.

There’s no reason for this.

T h e r e ‘ s n o r e a s o n f o r t h i s, J i m. Hopefully Jim sees the error of his ways and loses the fear of the waiver wire to improve the NHL club. Fans and surely goaltenders of the Dallas Stars will appreciate it.