Dallas Stars: Three Poor Player Contracts Going Into 2018-19 Season
By Josh Clark
Every NHL general manager has their good moves and their bad moves. Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill is no stranger to this. And while he has made some solid moves, he has also missed the mark on a few. Here are three of the Stars’ not so good contracts going into the new season.
Sometimes, things just don’t work out the way you might have planned. The Dallas Stars aren’t immune to this notion, and it even seems to meet them head-on rather frequently.
Since Jim Nill took over as general manager in April of 2013, the Stars have undergone some sizable changes. Names like Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza, and Alexander Radulov have joined the franchise, while longtime Stars like Loui Eriksson, Antoine Roussel, and Kari Lehtonen have all exited.
As a result, there have been highs, lows, and in-betweens for the team over the past five seasons. But things never seem to go according to plan. In 2013-14, no one expected much of Dallas. But they made the postseason for the first time in five years and put themselves in a spot to contend in the loaded Central Division. The 2015-16 season was supposed to involve the Stars digging in for a tight race in the division. But instead, they blew by the competition and won the division and Western Conference as a whole in the regular season behind a 50-win performance.
And at the beginning of the 2017-18 season, many analysts picked the Dallas Stars to either win the Central Division or the Stanley Cup as a whole. Yet somehow, Dallas finished sixth in the division and missed the postseason for a second straight year.
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Nothing seems to ever go according to plan in their season-by-season endeavors. The same can be said about their player contracts to an extent.
Like every GM in the NHL, Nill has looked like a genius at times with some of his free agent signings and trades. But on the flip side, he’s also looked rather foolish with certain acquisitions and signings (just like every GM). It’s what makes the general manager position one of the hardest jobs in all of sports.
Luckily for the Stars, Nill has looked smart on more occasions than he’s looked foolish. But still, some of his past moves still bring back bad memories (see: Anders Lindback and Jiri Hudler).
On Monday, we looked at three of the Stars’ best player contracts in terms of value heading into the 2018-19 season. Nill has signed a handful of players to team-friendly deals that help put the team in a great position going forward.
But there also a handful of contracts in the Dallas Stars organization that aren’t necessarily in the best interest of the team.
Considering it’s early August and the 2018-19 season is slowly approaching, let’s take a look at some of the Stars’ “not so good” contracts. Here are three Dallas skaters that aren’t necessarily panning out for the team at the moment.