Jim Nill Interview, Part Five: What Stars' New-Look Goalie Tandem Looks Like This Season

Reigning NHL GM of the Year Jim Nill took time for an exclusive interview with THN.com in late July to talk about a host of issues surrounding his Dallas Stars team. And in this file --- Part Five of a six-part series -- Nill discusses the new-look tandem in net for Dallas this coming season.

In June, Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill won the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award for the second consecutive season. Nill, who's been the Stars' GM since 2013, spoke with THN.com in late July to discuss 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 recently; Part Two was published last weekend, as was Part Three; earlier this week, we posted Part Four; and today, we're posting Part Five:

The Hockey News: Also, you made a meaningful change in net, parting ways with Scott Wedgewood as Jake Oettinger’s understudy and signing Casey DeSmith to replace Wedgewood. What was the thought process with those decisions?

Jim Nill: We did think Scott did well with us last year, but in the end, we couldn’t make the money work with him. But we’re happy that Casey DeSmith wanted to be part of the group, and we see him giving us solid support for Jake Oettinger. Depth is so important everywhere, including in net, so we’re comfortable we’ve got a duo in Jake and Casey that’s going to give us a chance to win night-in and night-out. 

(O)ur defense is going to look different this year, but we’re very confident in our goaltenders, with Jake being one of the best in the game and still a relatively young guy. We’re fortunate to have him, and Casey is a nice addition for us who’s going to be a solid No. 2 in net for us. It was hard to see Scott go, but that goes back to what I was saying about the cap and the way it forces you to change your roster every year. You can’t bring back everybody year after year, and in this case, the cap forced us to change up our look in net.

Be sure to join the growing Dallas Stars community on THN.com and bookmark THN's Dallas Stars site for all the latest Stars news, exclusive interviews, and much more.