Green Machine Musings- GM Jim's Other Additions



Ales Hemsky skating for the Edmonton Oilers



              In Part I of this recap of the Stars' amazing week, I said that perhaps the best thing about the team's acquisition of Jason Spezza on July 1st is the fact that it wasn't even close to being the only substantial move involving Dallas this offseason.  No, Jim Nill was just getting started when he pulled the trigger on the deal that sent Alex Chiasson to Canada's capital in exchange for the superstar center.  About two hours or so after the news broke that Spezza was coming to Big D, GM Jim made another headline-grabbing move that would effectively complete the quest to build an NHL-caliber second line.

 

              30-year old Ales Hemsky (pronounced AL-esh HEM-skee), a lightning-fast right wing with a knack for crashing the net to slot the puck home from close range, was the first major free agent acquisition for the Stars this offseason.  A long-time member of the Edmonton Oilers, Hemsky was traded to the Ottawa Senators at the trade deadline last season where he was put on a line centered by, lo and behold, Jason Spezza.  The two developed quite a chemistry in the 20 games they played together, as Hemsky put up 17 points (4 goals and 13 assists) during his time in Ottawa.  In fact, Spezza said in an interview shortly after the move was made official that he and Hemsky had been in communication throughout the offseason, anticipating where they might go and wondering if they somehow might take their chemistry to another city.  While their desire to play together elsewhere might not have been precisely what landed both of them in Dallas, there is no doubt that Jim Nill took their time together in Ottawa into consideration when deciding to acquire them.

 

               The Hemsky signing has been applauded by many in the NHL community as the Stars landed him at a very good term and price: 3 years/$12 Million.  This means that Dallas is not committing to a contract that could run beyond Hemsky's prime years nor one that pins the team against the salary cap of $69 Million.  The question now is: how much value can the Stars reasonably expect to get out of that investment?  To find Hemsky's best seasons points-wise, one has to go back a ways.  He put up 77 points during the 2005-2006 season with the Oilers, a campaign which saw Edmonton come within a game of winning the Stanley Cup.  More recently, though, his numbers have slipped.  Over the last five seasons, Hemsky hasn't reached the 50-point plateau and has not scored more than 14 goals in a single season.  However, one must take his scoreboard struggles with several grains of salt.  First of all, he was playing on one of the worst teams in hockey in Edmonton and was skating alongside line-mates that were either checking line role-players or young scorers who weren't always interested in setting up Hemsky for quality scoring chances.  Second, his health hasn't been the most cooperative recently.  In three of those five seasons, Hemsky failed to skate in at least 50 games, the worst of which saw him participate in just 22 contests in 2009-2010.  These two factors led many NHL experts to list Hemsky as a low-risk (money-wise), high-reward player that GMs would be wise to target.

 

                Right now, the consensus opinion among the Stars' community is that Ales Hemsky will skate alongside Jason Spezza on a scoring line that is more a "1B" line (behind the 1A of Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and Valeri Nichushkin) than a true "#2" line.  Hemsky would undoubtedly be relied upon to complement Spezza's stellar patience and decision-making abilities with some raw speed and goal-scoring prowess.  If Nill's instinct in signing Hemsky turns out to be right; look out, for the Dallas Stars will have one of the most feared scoring attacks in the Western Conference.  It'll be all about speed this fall in Big D, and in this league, speed kills.

 

 

Anders Lindback makes a save for the Tampa Bay Lightning

              I will admit that I initially missed another major signing for the Stars, as it was a move that quickly got lost in the Twitterverse of July 1st.  As I basked in the glory of the Spezza trade and Hemsky signing, I was alerted to the fact that the Stars had also addressed their need for a backup goaltender.  With prospect Jack Campbell about a year away from being NHL-ready, Dallas was looking for a solid backup that they could sign to a one-year deal.  This time, however, it appeared that someone younger than Dan Ellis and Tim Thomas was in order.  The end result: a one-year/$925,000 contract for 26-year old Anders Lindback, a 6'6 behemoth between the pipes who had fallen out of favor with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

 

             Lindback had long been among the favorites for the Stars' backup job.  A native of Sweden, Lindback came up through the Nashville system before spending the last two seasons with Tampa Bay.  In the lockout-shortened 2013 season, Lindback started 21 of Tampa Bay's 48 games and posted a 10-10-1 record and a 2.90 GAA.  Last year, while backing up starter Ben Bishop, Lindback made just 18 starts, posting a record of 8-12-2 with a GAA of 2.90 and a save percentage of .891.  However, he was thrust squarely into the spotlight come playoff time as Bishop was injured just prior to the end of the regular season.  Lindback started every game of the Bolts' first round series against the Montreal Canadiens, but he was, in the minds of many, the weakest link for Tampa Bay.  He collected all four losses in the series as his team was swept by the Habs in four games.  In two of those contests, Lindback was pulled in favor of Kristers Gudlevskis.  Thus, this guy is looking for a fresh start in a new city, and it appears that he is a good fit for Dallas while the Stars are a good fit for him.

 

There's only one thing keeping me from handing him the Stars' backup job...

 

Just when it looked like the Stars were set between the pipes...



                The equation appeared to be simple.  The Stars would have Kari Lehtonen be the starting goalie and Anders Lindback would back him up.  Jack Campbell would be the starter at the AHL level to get some more seasoning and Dallas would either find him a backup on the open market or promote a minor prospect from Idaho of the ECHL.  Well, on July 7th, that equation became a jumbled mess in a big hurry.

 

               Just six days after signing Lindback, the Stars signed Jussi Rynnas, a 27-year old Finnish netminder whose first stint in North America hadn't gone so well.  The terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed, so we all assumed that it would be a two-way deal that would make Rynnas the AHL backup for Jack Campbell.  Thus, we were in for a surprise when it was announced that Jim Nill had inked him to a two-year, one-way contract worth $1.125 Million.  This means that it was never Nill's intention to just hand the backup job to Lindback.  Instead, he wants his goaltenders to have an open competition to see who wants it more.  If you think about it, the pros of such a philosophy far outweigh the cons.  He who wins this backup job will undoubtedly be looking ahead to his starts with anticipation rather than fear, a trait linked to several of Dallas' last few backups.  In turn, we the fans will know that the Stars' front office will have done their due diligence in determining who is best suited for the job, and we probably won't be so swift to cringe whenever Lehtonen gets a night off.  The only downside to a one-way deal for Rynnas is the fact that, should he come up short in his bid to win an NHL job, he will have to clear waivers to be sent down to the Texas Stars.  I think that this is a risk that Nill is willing to take because few teams will be in the market for a backup goaltender after training camp, and thus, will not have incentive to claim Rynnas off the waiver wire.  The same policy applies to Lindback should he lose the competition.

 

                Rynnas entered the Toronto Maple Leafs system in 2010 after going undrafted and was released after the 2013 season.  He appeared in three NHL games over that span, which saw him spend most of his time with the AHL's Toronto Marlies.  He posted a career AHL record of 31-33-5 in 73 regular season appearances.  This past year he returned to his native country and Karpat of the SM-Liiga (Finnish Elite League), where he destroyed the competition, going 28-5-7 with a GAA of 1.51 and a stellar save percentage of .939.  His GAA and save % both were tops in the SM-Liiga.  His club won the league championship in 2014.

 

-All statistics courtesy of the Dallas Stars Hockey Club press release on July 7, 2014.

 

 

Patrick Eaves, son of University of Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves

 

                Now let's go back to July 1st.  Jim Nill rounded out day one of the free agent signing period with a most unimpressive acquisition.  The latest signee was Patrick Eaves, a depth player at right wing who spent last season playing for the Detroit Red Wings and Nashville Predators.  This appears to be little more than the acquisition of a 13th forward, someone who will spend a fair number of games sitting up in the press box, as the Stars already have considerable depth at the position.  Valeri Nichushkin, Ales Hemsky, Ryan Garbutt, and Colton Sceviour appear as though they will have dibs on the right side, so Eaves doesn't really have a place in the lineup.  Thus, he will get his playing time mostly in the event of injury or a slump by one of the aforementioned players.  Why Nill decided to go with Eaves probably has something to do with Eaves' performance in Detroit, where Nill was the head of scouting for two decades.  Also, GM Jim probably did not want one of his prospects, notably Brett Ritchie and Scott Glennie being forced into a bench-warming role at the NHL level when their best interests lie in playing consistently with the Texas Stars.  He has made it clear that his prospects are going to have to force their way onto the NHL roster and that no one will be given special treatment in any phase of his development.

 

               The former first round pick (29th overall) of the Ottawa Senators in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, Eaves has had a pretty lackluster career thus far.  His best seasons came early in his career.  In his rookie season, 2005-2006, he scored 20 goals in 58 games with Ottawa.  The following year, he potted 14 goals and put up a career-high 32 points in 73 games for the Senators.  After that, his numbers dropped off in a big hurry, as did the number of games he appeared in.  He was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes during the 2007-2008 season and then on to the Red Wings in 2009.  Over the course of his time with those two organizations, his maximum regular season output was 22 points with Detroit in 2009-2010.  He put up 12 goals that year and 13 goals the next, but his low assist numbers have not warranted a lot of ice time.  He has also had injury problems that limited his playing time to just 10 games in 2011-2012 and just 30 games in 2013-2014.

 



For some reason, Vancouver coach Alain Vigineault couldn't

stop laughing when he saw Fidds do this.



               Vernon Fiddler.  Who woulda thunk we'd see this guy around Big D for another two years?!  It seemed almost certain that the wily veteran would be taking his talents elsewhere this offseason, but lo and behold, he's back!  His presence on the fourth line and on the first penalty-killing unit will be immense, and his attitude and outlook on the game will be extremely beneficial for a locker room that is quickly getting younger.  Plus, his antics both on and off the ice will continue to be most welcome to us the fans (note the "Angry Kevin Bieksa" charade depicted above).

 

               The Stars were initially reluctant to commit to the multi-year deal (three or so years) that Fiddler was seeking, as a one-year deal would have been better suited for advancing the center prospects into the NHL ranks.  Thus, Fiddler and his agent decided to test the waters of free agency and see what another club would be willing to give him.  Money was never the issue, so Jim Nill and his crew must have made it clear to him that he would be welcome back on the Stars if the price was wrong elsewhere.  Regardless, we all thought he had surely played his last game in a Dallas jersey.  Then on July 2nd, it was announced that Fidds had been inked to a two-year contract worth $2.5 Million.  Here was a completely unexpected deal that actually involved Fiddler taking a pay cut from his previous deal.  He made $1.8 Million per season on his three-year deal that had just expired while, on this deal, he will make $1.0 Million in 2014-15 and $1.5 Million in 2015-16 (cap hit calculates out to $1.25 Million/year).  His reasoning for accepting such a deal: "Honestly, I had better offers.  But I wanted to stay with this team and finish the job.  There is a real attraction to playing here and playing to win, and seeing this through.  I think this is going to be a really good team, and I want to be a part of that."

 

                That kind of attitude is a clear indicator that this franchise is headed in the right direction.  Returning players taking less money to stay with a club rather than taking a better offer elsewhere is something that you don't see in every NHL city.  Vern, like many others, sees something in this club.  Something that we should be VERY excited about as the new season approaches.  Two things are for certain in the wake of this amazing week of offseason NHL action: Jim Nill has done it again, and the Dallas Stars are in very good shape for both next year and beyond.

 

-Quotes courtesy of Mike Heika's blog on SportsDay DFW

 

 

I'll leave you with two great Fiddler moments from this past season:

 

Sheathing the Weapon

 

 

The "Oh (expletive)" Move

 

 

Christian Bussler

@c_buss15

Green Machine Musings- GM Jim Builds a Contender!

Fear. His. Mustache.

It’s official!  The Dallas Stars have a second scoring line!

 

But before I tell you about it, watch this classic video game commercial featuring the most prominent new member of the Green Machine (as well as another old friend of the Stars).

 

 

            Somehow, someway, General Manager Jim Nill has done it again!  For the second summer in a row, the GM of the Stars has punched the accelerator on the rebuild in Big D.  The result: in just two off-seasons, the former Detroit Red Wings head of scouting has completely rebuilt the Top Six for the Stars.  Last year it involved a seemingly troubled young center in Boston and an eighteen-year old phenom from the south of Russia.  This time around, the men coming to don the victory green are, shall we say, a bit more experienced.

 

            On Tuesday morning, I received a very excited text from my Stars-loving friend, Tanner.  It was only one word: “YESSSSSS!” but I knew exactly where he was coming from.  In yeoman’s terms, July 1st marked the start of the NHL’s version of open season.  It was, once more, the start of free agent signings across the league, but with an added twist this year.  July 1st was going to be crazier than ever because of a rule change that allowed teams to meet with pending unrestricted free agents before the signing period began.  Thus, when the clock struck 11:00 am CDT on Tuesday, all hell broke loose, with signings going down simultaneously from coast to coast.  So upon seeing that text, I had only to ask myself: who had the Stars acquired?

 

             The answer had come from a multitude of sources an hour or so earlier, so I'll throw the credit to Stars beat writer Mike Heika.

             Jason Spezza (pronounced SPEHT-zuh). Take a minute to let that name sink in.  Here's a brief list of some of the things he's bringing to Big D:

 

           -Second overall draft pick in 2001 Entry Draft

           -687 points (251 goals + 436 assists) in 686 career NHL games

           -4 seasons of 30+ goals

           -4 seasons of 50+ assists

           -2 appearances in NHL All-Star Game

           -52 points in 56 career NHL playoff games

 

            In 2013-14: 23 goals + 43 assists (both stats would have easily placed third on the Stars behind Benn and Seguin)

 

 

            And now he's ours.  And the best part, he doesn't need to be a superstar to have success on this team.  No, he is here to complement our already lethal top line and make them even deadlier.  They will do this by forcing the opposition to pick their poison, that is, the opponent's top pairing will be unable to defend back-to-back assaults from two top-tier scoring lines.  That's the value of a second-line center that can create a true scoring line.  Last year, the Stars did not have one.  Next year, they will have a top line center on their second line.  How Jim Nill pulled this off I will never know.

 

            And the best part of the deal, the Stars got him for an extremely good price.  Now, I have to say, my heart sank a bit when I saw that Alex Chiasson had been included in the package being sent to Ottawa, because the player known as "Toaster" had been a fan favorite ever since he made his debut.  However, upon further analysis, I saw just how good a deal that Nill got for us.

 

 

To Dallas:          C Jason Spezza

                       LW Ludwig Karlsson

 

To Ottawa:     RW Alex Chiasson

                       2nd Round pick in the 2015 draft

                       LW Alex Guptill

                       LW Nick Paul

 

              In acquiring Spezza (and the wrong Karlsson as far as Ottawa is concerned), the Stars parted with an NHL player, a draft pick, and two prospects.  At first, that sounds like a high cost, but it actually is a mega-bargain.  Chiasson has potential to be a top-six NHLer, but it simply isn't guaranteed.  The 2nd-round pick is quite significant, as the 2015 draft is expected to be extremely deep and talented, but it isn't a first-rounder.  As for the prospects, Guptill, a University of Michigan product, was rated as about 9th to 11th overall in the Stars prospect pool by Derek Neumeier and Huw Wales of DefendingBigD.com.  Nick Paul, a player for the OHL's North Bay Battalion, did not make the most recent Top-25 list that those two put together.  Thus, the consensus is that Ottawa, in only getting this much value for their captain and second-biggest superstar, got somewhat hosed by this deal.

 

Here's a link to Neumeier and Wales' prospect rankings on DBD.com.

 

              The main downside for this deal for Dallas is the fact that Spezza's contract will expire after the 2014-15 season.  If he leaves Dallas after this season, then the Stars will have essentially parted with this package for a one-year rental.  Regardless, Jim Nill did not part with any of Dallas' top prospects to acquire a second-line center with top line capability.  Jack Campbell, Brett Ritchie, Jamie Oleksiak, Devin Shore, Jason Dickinson, and John Klingberg all remain in the system.  That makes this a truly special deal that doesn't come around every day.  On another note, I honestly think that Nill and Company could re-sign Spezza to a multi-year deal here in North Texas.  His current contract, which took him into his prime, pays him $7 million/year.  A new deal would probably require him taking a pay cut to about $6.4-6.5 million over 4-5 years.  The Stars will have plenty of salary cap space open after the upcoming season as the albatross (lousy) contracts of Erik Cole, Sergei Gonchar, and Shawn Horcoff will come off the books, freeing up $15 million to spend elsewhere.  Acquiring Spezza AND signing him to play in Dallas long-term?  This is a Stars fan's dream taking shape right before our eyes.  Enjoy the show fans!

 

             Maybe there was an even better part of this deal... the fact that it wasn't the only great deal that the Stars made.  Stay tuned for another post devoted to the acquisitions the Stars made throughout the rest of the week!

 

Christian Bussler

@c_buss15

Green Machine Musings- One Last Look Back (Part II)

 

 

                 Once again fans, in this edition of GMM, we're taking a look at the story of the Dallas Stars away from the ice in 2013-14.  We discussed owner Tom Gaglardi and team president Jim Lites in our last post, so now we'll critique the men that Gaglardi hired to lead the charge toward becoming a contender on the ice.  To do that, we'll have to start at the end of the lockout-shortened 2013 season, when the rebuild, which had been in the works for years, really began.  It was then that owner Tom Gaglardi made a move that changed the perception of this organization throughout the hockey world. 

 

General Manager Jim Nill          A+       The new era of Dallas Stars hockey was ushered in full-time on April 25, 2013.  That day, Tom Gaglardi fired general manager Joe Nieuwendyk to make way for Jim Nill, the former assistant GM and head of scouting for the Detroit Red Wings.  Nill, a master scout, had been instrumental in drafting and developing players like Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg and building a perennial power in the Red Wings.  I was actually at a game between the Stars and the Blue Jackets when I received word that Nieuwendyk had been fired.  I recall thinking to myself that this new guy must be pretty good because, all things considered, I was fairly satisfied with GM Joe's performance that year.  Now, the change at the top was not the result of any ineptitude on the part of Nieuwendyk (the Neal trade notwithstanding), but rather Gaglardi seizing the opportunity to land one of hockey's most coveted figures in upper management.  Regardless, the owner could not have made a better choice.

 

               Nill made a number of headline grabbing moves in his first few months on the job, with his first being the hiring of new head coach Lindy Ruff.  The Stars had both a number of veteran coaches and a number of up-and-coming bench bosses to choose from.  Alain Vigineault, John Tortorella, and Ruff headlined the veterans; while Toronto's Dallas Eakins and the Texas Stars' Willie Desjardins were prime amongst the AHL coaches looking to move up.  Initially, the decision to go with Ruff drew some criticism, but this season proved that Nill made the absolute right choice (more on Ruff later).  With the new bench boss in place, Nill and Company headed to New Jersey, where they did a masterful job in one of the deepest NHL drafts in years.  Simply put, if you would have told me that we would land Valeri Nichushkin with the tenth overall pick, I would have called you out of your mind.  And not only did they land the big Russian; they snapped up two players who look like absolute studs in Jason Dickinson and Philippe Desrosiers, as well as a handful of dark horses in Remi Elie, Niklas Hansson, and Cole Ully.  I never would have thought that we could improve our prospect pool so much with just one draft.  And the best part: Jim Nill was just getting started.

 

Never in a million years did I think we'd get our hands on this guy.

 

               When people discuss the 2013 offseason for the Dallas Stars, they will surely spend the most time talking about the blockbuster trade with the Boston Bruins that brought Tyler Seguin to Big D.  Somehow, Jim Nill was able to land the budding superstar Seguin as well as veteran Rich Peverley without gutting the Stars' farm system. True, Loui Eriksson is a bonafide top-six player and Reilly Smith has turned out to be a very good NHL player, but to get something, you have to give up something.  And despite getting someone to build a top line around, the Stars did not give up that much.  It truly is remarkable, for the Stars went from a team not having anything resembling a top line to having one of the top lines in the sport.  GM Jim deserves all the credit for it.  The only real dud of a move that Nill made was the signing of Sergei Gonchar to two years of an albatross contract ($5 million/year).  A poor decision, yes, but one that Dallas fans can stomach reasonably well, for we can afford him even if we don't want him.  Besides, with all the home runs Nill hit last offseason, I think we can tolerate him grounding out every once in a while.

 

                 Over the past few years, Jim Nill had his choice of several clubs that wanted to hire him as their GM, most notable being the Montreal Canadiens.  Thus, him coming on board here in Dallas tells us that he sees something special in this club.  There is immense potential to create a perennial winner, and there is no one better prepared to tap that potential than Jim Nill.

 

 

 

Head Coach Lindy Ruff           A        Jim Nill had his choice of several coaches to hire in Big D last summer and, based on the choice he made, we can safely guess the criteria on which he made his decision.  First off, we were looking for a coach who had experience at the NHL level and was known for his ability to develop prospects into NHLers.  Second, he needed to have shown adaptability in his previous position, that is, he proved that he could have success no matter the type of players he was given.  Lastly, he needed to want to come to a team like Dallas, which would require both patience and an eagerness to build a winner from the ground up.  These are the things that Nill found in Lindy Ruff, the longtime bench boss of the Buffalo Sabres and the 12th-winningest head coach in NHL history.  The question was, while Ruff had found success with various groups of players in Buffalo, would he be able to install a system that properly utilized the Stars' abundance of speed while also protecting the puck to limit chances against.  Some also questioned his noted strategy of rolling four lines consistently at even strength.  This means that, at times, he allows all the lines to play their shifts instead of focusing on the matchups that the opposition is putting out and sending in the lines he views as appropriate.  While this strategy keeps players more rested later in games, it can also lead to missed opportunities and mismatches in favor of the opposition.  Regardless, Stars fans knew that Ruff had to be an upgrade over Glen Gulutzan, who was simply in over his head during his two seasons at the helm in Dallas. 

 

             We would eventually find out that "upgrade" was a massive understatement in terms of describing what Lindy Ruff meant to this team in 2013-2014, but it didn't exactly start off that way.  Ruff's insistence on placing Alex Goligoski and Sergei Gonchar together on a defensive pairing was a colossal failure.  Fortunately, the experienced Ruff admitted this and juggled the pairings consistently until he found the right fit.  Overall, despite having a defense that had not been significantly upgraded since 2013, the Stars were not a liability in their own zone.  They got consistently better as the season went along, giving up fewer shots on a consistent basis and ensuring that the team had a chance to win each game.  This tells me that Ruff and his defense-oriented assistant coach, James Patrick, had a system in place that was designed to both find a winning combination and help the blue liners grow both as individuals and as a unit.  That said, while Ruff was flexible with his lines and pairings, he was not one to jump ship on a certain unit after a bad game.  His system fostered a sense of accountability around the Stars, that is, everyone had a role to play and no one could carry this team alone.  The slogan was "Everybody Ropes, Everybody Rides" and it could not have been more true.

 

             In all, I think that nothing stands out about Coach Ruff's performance more so than the development of key individuals on the back end.  I mentioned in a recent post that I was extremely pleased with the pairing of Alex Goligoski and Trevor Daley, which this team leaned on extensively down the stretch.  Both played some of the best hockey we've ever seen them play and I think that we should be very excited to see what this coaching staff can do with some of the prospects that are poised to come up.  If Patrik Nemeth, Jamie Oleksiak, and John Klingberg end up developing as quickly and as completely as Jordie Benn did this past year, look out.  The Stars blue line could become a top tier unit in a very short span of time (more on this in an upcoming post).

 

A FEW NOTES:

 

-The Stars released their full 2014-2015 schedule on Sunday afternoon.  Let me know in the comments section which games you are looking forward to the most.

 

-The 2014 NHL Draft will commence on Friday night in Philadelphia, with the first round broadcast on NBC Sports Network.  In the days leading up to it, I will do my best to get you a draft preview as well as a rundown of the Stars' most pressing needs on the ice for the upcoming season.

 

Christian Bussler

@c_buss15