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Dallas Stars Daily Links: Inside the Mind of Jim Nill

Pierre LeBrun chats with the Stars’ GM about the trade deadline, coaching changes, and more. Plus, potential trade targets for Dallas, how the KHL promotes women’s hockey, and more.

As the NHL Trade Deadline approaches, Dallas Stars General Manager Jim Nill has some crucial decisions to make. More likely than not, the Stars will finish the season either second or third in the Central and will have to beat both the Colorado Avalanche and the St. Louis Blues to advance to the Western Conference Finals.

Now obviously, the Stars would like to add some offense at the trade deadline. But with a weak trade crop this year, Nill has to decide if the cost will be worth it:

“The biggest question is what’s the price of acquisition? There’s a balancing act there. Draft picks are becoming more and more valuable in today’s game. That’s what we got to balance… There’s a short-term risk/reward to that and a long-term risk/reward that we always have to balance between the cap, the draft picks.”

If the Stars don’t make any moves, then they’ll have to rely on their own players to step up. Dallas is 28th in the league in goal scoring, so it’s safe to say that nearly everyone on the roster could stand to improve a little offensively:

“I think there’s more for high-end players to give there … And even our support players, I think there’s more to give there, too. I think we can be a more determined team in the offensive zone, possession time and all that. … I think we can still be more of a possession team in the offensive zone and I think that’s where our game will change a little bit.”

You can hear more from Nill in Pierre Lebrun’s interview with him here.

Stars Stories

Speaking of the trade deadline, Heika talks about potential targets and more in his latest mailbag:

Jason Spezza returns to Dallas tonight as the Stars take on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Here’s what Jason Dickinson has to say about his return:

Here’s what Rick Bowness has to say about tonight's matchup:

Former Stars goaltender Ed Belfour got in a bit of trouble yesterday...

Around the League

With so many teams on the playoff cusp this year, the deadline could either be a dud or very interesting. Here are some teams to keep an eye on:

For the teams that are already clear sellers, maybe it’s time to look ahead to the NHL Draft?

The Nashville Predators are struggling this year, which warms my heart:

Finally, apparently the KHL is a big supporter of women’s hockey. Perhaps the NHL could follow in their footsteps?

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