Dallas Stars: Ranking Each Of Jim Nill’s Five Stars Teams
By Josh Clark
5. The 2016-17 Dallas Stars
There probably isn’t much of an argument that the 2016-17 Dallas Stars were the worst team in Nill’s era. Not only that, but they ended up being one of the worst teams in Stars history.
Record: 34-37-11 (79 points)
Finished: 6th in Central Division, 11th in Western Conference
Made playoffs/missed playoffs by: Missed by 15 points
This was a lost season for Dallas from the word “go.”
After building up plenty of excitement and hype with a Central Division title and falling one win short of the Western Conference Finals in 2016, the Dallas Stars looked to be on the come up. Years of mediocrity and playing in the middle of the pack had finally subsided and Dallas was on top for once. They had built something threatening and dangerous and were using it to its maximum potential.
Dallas Stars
And then, it all seemed to disappear overnight. Losing starting defenders Alex Goligoski, Jason Demers, and Kris Russell over the summer and replacing them with only veteran Dan Hamhuis wasn’t an ideal start. In addition, leaving their goaltending untouched after it proved to be their primary undoing in the playoffs the year before was another.
But injuries also played a large part in the Stars dropping to the bottom of the standings in 2016-17. Names like Jason Spezza, Ales Hemsky, Mattias Janmark, Johnny Oduya, Patrick Sharp, and Cody Eakin all missed significant parts of the regular season, leaving Dallas constantly filling holes.
As a result, their offense dropped from 3.23 goals per game to 2.71 in one season. Their goals against average hiked up from 2.78 per game to 3.17 per game. That’s the worst possible turnaround to have in a one-season span.
On top of that, the Stars leaned on unproven or young rookie talent to try and help them get back in the race. Names like Adam Cracknell, Lauri Korpikoski, Devin Shore, and Cody Eakin were given large roles on the offensive side of the puck. On defense, rookie Esa Lindell was thrust into a first-pairing role while Jamie Oleksiak and Stephen Johns were put in pivotal positions when their games clearly weren’t at the peak.
All of this combined together to make an ugly concoction and left the Stars flailing. Lindy Ruff’s high risk system handcuffed the young defense and set the blue line up to fail. The offense could not find the same consistency that they had in the season prior. And finally, Antti Niemi and Kari Lehtonen both had career-low years. The power play was average and the penalty kill was the worst in the league by a long shot.
More from Editorials
- Dallas Stars hockey is about to be the main attraction in Dallas this year
- Age Before Beauty: The impact of Benn’s new role on his Dallas legacy
- Dallas Stars hockey is the light at the end of the tunnel
- Dallas Stars coverage is lacking and it’s very concerning to be honest
- Sit back, relax and watch Jim Nill and the Dallas Stars draft scouts cook
By the time it was all said and done, the Stars had traded away plenty of expiring free agents and parted ways with head coach Lindy Ruff.
The 2016-17 season left the Dallas Stars in a rut and brought their future into question. Was this team really in good shape for the future?
It wasn’t all bad, though. Following the disastrous year, Dallas won the third overall pick in the draft via the lottery and picked up defenseman Miro Heiskanen, who looks to be a cornerstone for the blue line for years to come. In the offseason, they also secured valuable pieces like Ben Bishop and Alexander Radulov.
But other than that, the 2016-17 season was an absolute mess. It was the worst year of Nill’s tenure as general manager and had many questioning his overall qualification to be GM. Crazy what one year can do, huh?