Blackout Dallas
Fansided

Dallas Stars: Jim Nill’s 5 Worst Free Agent Signings

By Summer LeBel

CHICAGO, IL - MARCH 23: Jiri Hudler #22 of the Dallas Stars warms up prior to the game against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center on March 23, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Dallas Stars 3-2. (Photo by Bill Smith/NHLI via Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL - MARCH 23: Jiri Hudler #22 of the Dallas Stars warms up prior to the game against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center on March 23, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Dallas Stars 3-2. (Photo by Bill Smith/NHLI via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 6
Next
Dallas Stars
CHICAGO, IL – JANUARY 04: Goaltender Anders Lindback #29 of the Dallas Stars warms up prior to a game against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center on January 4, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Steve Woltmann/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Anders Lindback

Contract: 1 year at $925,000.
Notable Stats: 10 GP, 7 GS, 2-8-0, .875 SV%, 3.71 GAA.

As another signing in the continuing saga of the Stars’ backup goaltender issues, Nill gave Anders Lindback a one-year deal. Lindback was drafted by the Predators and spent his time right before coming to Dallas with the Lightning, who are an official source of Dallas Stars goaltenders (also see: Ben Bishop, Mike McKenna).

Why This Was a Bad Signing: Lindback came in and posted a terrible record. His save percentage and goals against were unimpressive, but at least he didn’t play a lot of games. He ended up as part of a mid-season trade, with the Stars bringing in Jhonas Enroth instead.

The signing wasn’t expensive and it filled a need, but it was the second consecutive off-season where Nill failed to bring in a reliable back-up for the team. That’s a trend that’s continued to haunt his tenure as GM, but will perhaps be broken with the addition of Anton Khudobin.

On the Other Hand: There wasn’t much of an upside to this deal, because Lindback didn’t play well and Enroth wasn’t a long-term solution either. The only redeeming fact of this signing is that Lindback played better with his other teams, so Nill’s decision to sign him wasn’t without merit. He had a decent .914 save percentage and a 2.53 goals against average while with Nashville. He played worse in Tampa (.897 SV%, 2.90 GAA), but it was still much better than he played with the Stars. The signing was a bad one, but at least Nill’s mindset is understandable.

Home/All Time Stars