Why Stars’ Jim Nill deserves to win the NHL’s GM of the Year award

Could Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill be in line to claim his third consecutive Jim Gregory Award as the NHL’s General Manager of the Year?

On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Jonny Lazarus and Nate Thompson chatted about three managers who could be in the running for the award this season.

Jonny Lazarus: If you could pick three guys right now who you would have as your three finalists for General Manager of the Year, which three guys are you going with?

Nate Thompson: I’m going with Bill Zito of the Florida Panthers, Jim Nill of the Stars, and Chris MacFarland of the Colorado Avalanche.

Jonny Lazarus: If you could rank them one to three, how would you go?

Nate Thompson: I think I would go Nill, MacFarland, and Zito. I would say Nill because the proof is in the pudding. This team, every year, with what he has done with their roster, how he has constructed it, how he hasn’t had to trade too many core players at the deadline. Yes, he traded away Logan Stankoven, but you get a guy like Mikko Rantanen. You have guys like Roope Hintz, Jason Robertson, Mavrik Bourque, and Wyatt Johnston. And they just extended Wyatt Johnston. Then you talk about their ‘D’ core. And this is why I think, this is another example, Nill goes out and gets Cody Ceci and gets guys like that. And guess what? Miro Heiskanen is hurt now. Those trades end up helping you because of situations like that. You look up and down their roster. They have Jamie Benn. They have Tyler Seguin coming back from injury. I just think the drafting they’ve done, the development they’ve done with their prospects, and a lot of those guys are homegrown, then you add different free agents, and now you lock up a guy like Rantanen for eight years and Wyatt Johnston [for five years]. All these guys. I just think the Stars, not only are they set up to win this year, but they are set up to win for many more years.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here: