Toronto Maple Leafs: Ranking All 32 NHL General Managers
By Jeff Borsuk
The 13th Ranked GM – Jim Nill (Dallas Stars)
For over eight years Jim Nill has been the GM of the Dallas Stars. He cut his teeth working in the Red Wings front office starting all the way back in 1994 at the age of 35. He transitioned seamlessly from Detroit to take his current role in 2013.
The Good – There is always something to like about a GM who can build a team that can realistically win a championship. Last year, Nill’s Stars came just two wins away from hoisting it but ultimately fell in the Finals to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
A big part of the team’s success has to be because of a trade that Nill made in July of 2013. He pulled the trigger on a seven player deal with the Bruins that allowed the Stars to get Tyler Seguin. The big part of the return for Boston was Loui Eriksson but the Bruins also received Matt Fraser, Joe Morrow, and Reilly Smith. Along with Seguin, the Stars got Rich Peverley and Ryan Button. It was an absolute steal for Nill.
The Bad – On the opening day of free agency in 2017, Nill announced that he had signed UFA center Martin Hanzal to a three-year $14.25M. That was an AAV of $4.75M. This was a bad bet by Nill because Hanzal was 30 at the time of the signing and had already had nagging health issues. He had a foot injury and was coming off his second back surgery when Nill inked him to far too large a deal.
The Ugly – Some may wonder what happened to the Stars this season. They went from almost winning Lord Stanley’s Mug to not even qualifying for the playoffs. The problem is that injuries ravaged the team. It was really ugly.
Not only did a number of players miss significant time but the players who did were very important to the team. Goaltender Ben Bishop had to sit out the entire season to rehab a knee injury. After playing just 11 games, Alexander Radulov had to miss the rest of the season to surgically repair a core muscle injury. Seguin was also limited to just a handful of games. He played in only three because he was rehabbing from hip surgery. Clearly, this isn’t Nill’s fault but it did ruin any hope that the Stars had of returning to the Finals.