At the end of the 2009-10 season, the NHL created the Jim Gregory Award, given to the General Manager of the Year. With how the last three votes have gone, the NHL may need to consider renaming it after Jim Nill. Nill has now won the award three times in a row and has had another stellar summer. While it must be flattering for the Dallas Stars' front office executive to be voted on by his peers as the best, he does not have a Stanley Cup as the GM to show for it.
After a third straight loss in the Western Conference Final, Nill decided it was time for a change. The Stars fired Pete DeBoer as the head coach. Still, the team was in a difficult salary cap situation heading into the offseason, and firing a coach does not fix that. A coach can only work with the tools he is given from the front office. The question now is, has their new coach, Glen Gulutzan, been given the pieces to contend, or will there be more falling just short in Texas?
Are the Stars a true contender in the West?
The Stars are a franchise who have lifted the Cup just once. They did it back in 1999, but have played for Lord Stanley two more times. There are players on the roster who were not even born when the team last won it all. The expectation is to contend for greatness once again. According to the odds provided by FanDuel, this is a team that should contend. They are the third most favored team in the Western Conference to make it to the Finals and fifth in odds to win it.
They also have many solid pieces that should make contention possible. This starts with a top line of Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz, and Mikko Rantanen. Robertson was second on the team in points in 2024-25, leading the squad with 35 goals while also adding 45 assists. Hintz would amass 67 points in 2024-25, finding the back of the net 28 times. Rantanen was a mid-season acquisition by Dallas. He has produced 88 or more points in four consecutive seasons, including over 100 points in both 2022-23 and 2023-24. This gives a strong top line for the Stars to work with, but the Florida Panthers have shown it takes more than top-end talent to win a Stanley Cup; it takes depth and leadership.
The Jamie Benn deal gets an honorable mention
Jamie Benn's return to the franchise was a major move. He was the 129th overall pick of the 2007 Draft by the team. The Canadian winger would make his NHL debut in 2009-10 with the Stars, and has been a major part of the franchise ever since. He would become the captain of the team in 2013-14, and while he is not the same level of player he used to be, his leadership is a major value.
The former Art Ross Trophy winner is also staying in Dallas on an amazing deal for the team. Benn tallied just 49 points in 2024-25, his lowest total since 2021-22, but he is signed for just $1 million. It does have up to an extra $3 million in performance-based incentives. He will earn $500,000 at four different games played intervals, earning up $2 million if he plays 60 games. The next half-million comes from a Conference Final victory with him playing 50 percent of the games, and the final half-million comes with them winning the Cup.
A total of $4 million would have been fair as a base salary for his production. Instead, both his play and the team's play are tied to the totality of the contract. For a team that was tight on cap space, getting their captain back at a massive discount was a great move, but not the perfect one.
Matt Duchene's return was perfect for Dallas
In 2024-25, Matt Duchene led the Stars in both assists and total points — that's not counting Rantanen, who only played part of the season in Texas. He also chipped in 30 goals, which was good for fourth on the team. He did this while playing for just $3 million. Over his two campaigns with Dallas, the former third overall pick of the Colorado Avalanche has found the back of the net 55 times while adding 92 helpers. He has also missed just two games. That is a combined 147 points over 162 games, for a total of $6 million in pay.
The Canadian forward has scored 50 or more points in six of the last eight seasons, and deserved a raise. Still, he is just getting a modest one. His new deal is for four years at an AAV of $4.5 million. This is a steal of a deal for someone who has provided as much production as Duchene. He is likely to pair with Wyatt Johnston and Tyler Seguin on the second line, giving Dallas two solid lines of depth to contend in the Western Conference.
While he could have gotten more on the open market, the forward gets stability with this new contract and a clear chance to contend. Meanwhile, the Stars needed the return of his production and were able to manage that at a great cost.
