Jim Nill deserves most of the blame for Dallas Stars struggles

Recent comments from the Dallas Stars ownership have put Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin on notice. However, the blame lies at the feet of general manager Jim Nill.

The Dallas Stars frustrations are starting to boil over. Last season, they fell apart with one of the most unexpected collapses in NHL history, which caused them to miss the postseason. This season, the Stars are still struggling, as they’re barely clinging onto the second wild card spot with 41 points in 38 games.

Yesterday, the Stars ownership made an interesting decision. After requesting an interview with several media members, CEO Jim Lites called out star players Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn.

"“We are a stars-driven league, and our stars aren’t getting it done. It’s embarrassing, and no one writes it. Write it!”"

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The entire article is worth reading (though you need a subscription to The Athletic to do so). What’s interesting is Lites’ frustration is being directed at the wrong people. Seguin and Benn are first and second on the Stars in points with 32 and 30, respectively. Could they be doing better? Absolutely, you can always do better.

But the stars aren’t the ones to blame. Benn and Seguin are paid to produce and that’s precisely what they’re doing despite having the odds stacked against them. The Stars have scored a total of 101 goals. Benn and Seguin have 26 of them. Throw in Alexander Radulov‘s 11 goals and that’s 37, which is over one-third of their goals.

So, who should Lites be blaming for the Stars struggles? General Manager Jim Nill seems like a pretty good target. After all, he’s the one who saw his team’s struggles last season. Nill knew the Stars were a one-line team in 2017-18 (or at least he should have known). He’s the one who did virtually nothing to help an ailing offense.

After seeing how unproductive the rest of their forwards were in 2017-18, Nill made two moves to bring in some help. He signed veteran forward Blake Comeau and brought back an old friend, Valeri Nichushkin. Nill also brought in veteran backup goalie Anton Khudobin, who in fairness, has done what he was supposed to do – provide the Stars with a viable backup goaltender.

Combined, Nill’s two major offseason acquisitions (Comeau and Nichushkin) have 10 points and three goals. The only reasons the Stars offense hasn’t been even worse are because of Jason Spezza‘s strong bounce-back season (19 points in 36 games) and the emergence of 2017 first-round pick defenseman Miro Heiskanen. When a rookie blue liner is fifth on your team in points (as Heiskanen is), that’s a good sign your offense is struggling.

To be fair, Nill couldn’t have predicted Norris Trophy contender John Klingberg would get injured. However, if he had properly addressed the Stars obvious offensive issues this summer, he wouldn’t be missed nearly as much as he was.

Lites has every reason to be frustrated and angry. His team is struggling mightily and could easily miss the postseason. However, with all due respect to Lites, the Stars CEO’s frustration ought to be laid at the feet of Nill, the man most responsible for his team’s struggles. After all, it’s much easier to replace a general manager than it is to replace two star players.