1. The 2015-16 Dallas Stars
Let’s end this mega slideshow on a happy note, shall we? Coming in as the no. 1 team in Jim Nill’s tenure as GM, let’s talk about the 2015-16 Dallas Stars.
Record: 50-23-9 (109 points)
Finished: 1st in Central Division, 1st in Western Conference
Made playoffs/missed playoffs by: Made playoffs
Wow. What a team this was.
Backtrack really quickly to June 2015. The Stars were two months removed from missing the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs and falling well short of expectations (see “The 2014-15 Dallas Stars” for further clarification). On top of that, they had a to-do list that had to be checked off before they could be considered a true contender.
At the top of that list included finding a competent and reliable backup goaltender and adding a veteran presence on the blue line. In a little under three weeks time, Nill found a way to do all of that and then some.
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He secured Antti Niemi in a trade and signed veteran defender Johnny Oduya to an affordable two-year deal. But on top of that, he also traded for Patrick Sharp and Stephen Johns. The acquisition of Sharp injected more life and power into an already dangerous offensive force. And from there, the rest is history.
The Dallas Stars took the NHL by storm. They won 17 of their first 21 games in the regular season and were the best team in the NHL for a good two months before the red-hot Washington Capitals stole the title.
Dallas was the best offensive team in the NHL by a significant gap, scoring 3.23 goals per game. Their top trio of Benn, Seguin, and Sharp abused and humiliated opposing defenses while their depth forwards provided a helpful punch in the bottom nine. In the back end, their defense played a successful enough two-way game and their two goalies built off of each other enough to get Dallas into the playoffs as the top seed.
They owned a top-ten unit on both the power play and penalty kill and looked to be one of the top challengers for the Cup.
And after handling the Minnesota Wild in six games in the first round, the Stars stared down their eventual spoiler in the St. Louis Blues. Though they endured a high-spirited and incredibly entertaining second round series, the Blues found a way to outlast the Stars in the deciding game seven and crushed months of aspirations and hopes.
While the Dallas Stars had no idea the misfortunes they were in for in the 2016-17 campaign, the 2015-16 season was quite a sight to behold. Nill found a combination that clicked incredibly well and gave the Stars and their franchise a shot at something big. I still sit back at times and wonder what would have happened had that exact same team had one more swing at a title in the following season.
But here we are in the 2018 offseason, and it’s been quite the journey so far. Though the lack of success is becoming concerning and discouraging considering the talent the team possesses, Jim Nill has had no trouble in building entertaining hockey teams and reviving the hockey culture in Dallas.
Next: Surging Central Division Is Leaving Stars Behind
The Dallas Stars have another busy summer ahead, and it all starts with Nill. And after five years at the helm, there’s only one question on everyone’s minds.
What will Nill do next?