THN.com's exclusive interview with Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill -- the NHL's GM of the Year for the second consecutive year -- continues with Part Four -- a look at Dallas' new-look defense corps.
THN.com's exclusive interview with Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill -- the NHL's GM of the Year for the second consecutive year -- continues with Part Four -- a look at Dallas' new-look defense corps.
In June, Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill was named the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award for the second straight season. Nill, who's been Dallas' GM since 2013, spoke with THN.com in late July to talk about the state of the Stars, changes he's made to the lineup, and much more. THN.com published Part One of a six-part interview series with Nill last week; Part Two was published this weekend, as was Part Three; and today, we're posting Part Four:
The Hockey News: You also made the most extensive changes to the team on defense, moving on from Chris Tanev, Ryan Suter and Jani Hakanpaa, and bringing in Matt Dumba, Ilya Lyubushkin and Brendan Smith. How do you see your defense corps’ evolution?
Jim Nill: Well, firstly, we appreciated the work of all our defensemen last year. Chris Tanev was a really good fit for us, and we would’ve liked to have kept him, but he went to (the UFA) market and had the chance to go home, so he did that and we wish him well in Toronto. Suter was a consummate professional, and so was Hakanpaa, but again, we couldn’t make the money work to fit them in. So we bring in three guys we think can contribute meaningfully, and they’re all guys with quality experience.
And we’ve got excellent veterans coming back on defense – obviously, Miro Heiskanen is one of the top-10 defensemen in the league, probably top-five, maybe higher than that. Also, Esa Lindell has been so dependable for us, and Thomas Harley is continuing to emerge as someone who can give us a lot of high-quality minutes. So we believe the whole group is going to do well for us this year, and we’ve got a chance to be at least as good with them as we were last year, if not better than we were.
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