Dallas Stars Head Coaching Search: Jim Nill’s Process, Top Candidates and Potential Surprises

Dallas Stars Head Coaching Search: Jim Nill’s Process, Top Candidates and Potential Surprises

let’s listen and react to Jim Niels’s process on finding the next head coach of the Dallas Stars Is it a possibility of a surprise candidate and is Jason Robertson really on the trading block You’re Locked On Stars your daily podcast on the Dallas Stars part of the Locked On podcast network Your team every day Howdy Stars fans I’m Joey Ericson former producer 105 through the fan Please be sure to subscribe We are free and available wherever you get your podcast and on YouTube And as always thank you so much for making us a part of your day and making us your first listen Welcome to another week of Locked On Stars part of the Locked On podcast network your team every single day And today I’m going to share with you some bites of the Jim Nil presser from last week on his process of finding the next head coach of the Dallas Stars And I want to throw a few names out there of surprise candidates Maybe the Stars will be looking at I want to cover all the bases and just throw out some names there just to see possibly if that is one that comes up here in the next few weeks Plus Jason Robertson Is he on the trading block nil had some thoughts on the contract extension with Robo as well I want to get to So let’s jump right in to today’s episode and I want to focus on the hiring search the coaching search for the Dallas Stars for any thoughts or quotes from Jim Nil about firing head coach Pete Tbor You can take a look at Friday’s episode of Locked on Stars We broke it all down there But for now I want to focus on the future the coaching search Where is Jim Nil going to look and I thought he had a fantastic answer of whether he would go old or young in finding his next head coach of the stars We’re talking about that internally but uh I want to be open-minded There’s some good young coaches out there You know I’m going to use an example You know Jim Montgomery I brought in here and did a great job for some other circumstances things happen But now you see the job he’s doing in you know he did in Boston and did in St Louis So much like the players are different from 15 years ago I think the coaches are different from uh the past in that uh these guys are all they’re career coaches They’re well schooled Uh they live and diet and you know eventually there’s going to be another where’s the next Pete Dbor you know where’s the next Scotty Bowman they’re out there somewhere and so we want to be openminded to that I think that’s music to a lot of Stars fans ears And there’s some key phrases in there right openminded I think that’s what all Stars fans want to see from Jim Nil and the the staff in general moving into to next season Can they go out and maybe find a young coach maybe that is Neil Graham down in Texas with the AHL stars Maybe that’s finding a coach in the college ranks But I also want to highlight something he said a bit later in the press conference I don’t have the actual bite for you but he mentioned that it’s important that he finds a good mix too The Stars are a team that have had a lot of success the last three seasons They are built to win now with their roster and there’s going to be a lot more changes to this roster here in the next few months as we all know with unrestricted free agents and the limited cap space the Stars have So they have to find somebody that maybe has some skins on the walls but maybe isn’t that recycled head coach that we’ve seen in the NHL over the past decade or so And he brought up the the point of knowing where the dressing room is knowing when you get to the arena where you go because players see that And that’s important that players know and respect the head coach number one but also feel like he knows what he’s doing to some degree right sometimes 95% of a job is just almost uh acting like you know what you’re doing Maybe you don’t We’ve all been there at at points in our career We just fake it till you make it so to speak Um not that the stars are wanting to find a head coach that’s completely inexperienced but they have to find a good mix of someone that’s respected sort of knows what they’re doing they’ve been around the block so they can coach a team that is ready to win Now we all know that it’s not a team that’s going to be rebuilding It feels like the Stars still have an opportunity to be in this window of trying to win a Stanley Cup Now finding a coach is going to be part of that and building the roster out as well And that’s of course where Jim Nil comes in But I think open-mindedness is a great phrase that all Stars fans are happy to hear And maybe they do go find a a head coach that’s been recycled right up here Lavallet’s been out there right that’s a probably the the most veteran coach Jay Woodraftoft I wouldn’t really throw him into that group but um he’s he’s out there as well but some fascinating insights on what he’s thinking about and he brought up Jim Montgomery and he also had a lot of praise for the AHL head coach of the Texas Stars Neil Graham I I think he’s probably going to be a candidate He’s done a good job something we got to look at And uh like I said all he’s done gone down there all he’s done is one and developed And that’s not easy to do in that league It’s uh it’s a it’s a tough league And we’ve had different rosters We’ve gone from you know the Bourcs and Stan Kovvens and Harley’s young some of the best young prospects in the in the world there to now a little bit more of the free agent style and older And he just he keeps winning and he keeps developing players We got some young kids down there uh that we signed as free agents out of college now that are playing great And uh so he just he does a good job Hearing that little 30se second saliloquy on Neil Graham makes you feel that he is going to be at the top of the list for head coach or for general manager Jim Nil Uh just a lot of praise for for Neil Graham and rightfully so As I’m recording this currently the Texas Stars are actually up two to one right now in game six against the Conucks trying to force a game seven after being down 3-1 in the Western Conference Final of the Calder Cup playoffs There’s a little bit of a tangent for you but uh they’re trying to to force a a game seven to get to the final but a lot of praise there for Neil Graham He’s had five winning seasons as the head coach down in Texas And Jim Nil highlighted it right he’s developing and winning And I mention his name too because he um has experience with some of the Dallas stars right like Thomas Harley Maverick Jakeer So there is some continuity there And just hearing the the way Jim Niels spoke about him it feels like he’s going to be at the the top of the list probably within I would say a short list of candidates He’s probably within the the top three for this uh Dallas Stars uh organization right now Just a lot of praise there He said a lot of positive things and I think he almost sort of almost gave the pitch to Neil Graham already And uh I think uh he’s going to be a fascinating fascinating name we’re going to hear and learn more about as this process takes place But I love Neil expanding on they’re they’re trying to to find the next young head coach And he went on to talk about how there are scouts that of course are are out watching players and doing their due diligence in that department but Jimnil asks them who are the young upandcoming coaches They’re they’re always trying to get a beat on who is going to be that next Pete Dbor right as you mentioned who’s going to be the next hot young candidate that uh possibly they can take a flyer on And Jim Montgomery of course had some uh success in the coaching ranks He wasn’t completely inexperienced He uh won a national championship in Denver with the Pioneers Very very good coach and then he gave him a shot with um with Dallas and he did a a pretty decent job up to the point uh that he had some circumstances that that went the other way But uh I I think it’s going to be a fascinating fascinating coaching search for the Stars I feel like if I’m a betting man it’s going to be a Neil Graham type I I just I feel like Jim is looking for a younger coach that maybe has a new idea Maybe there’s just a new philosophy uh of going uh about the the position because Dbor has proven he can win right and if you’re going to if you’re going to get rid of a head coach like Pete Dbor it’s been around the block Of course he’s won He even mentioned that he believes Pete D’Vor going to win a Stanley Cup at some point So it’s kind of weird Why would you get rid of that it has to be a change to go maybe the opposite direction right why would you go out and find another lavlet right maybe even a Woodcraft Maybe Woodcraftoft is in that conversation Why would you go that route if you have a guy like Tor that’s already proven he can do it with with your roster and I know at the end of the day he didn’t get he didn’t reach the ultimate goal Just feels like maybe he is going to go to that Monty type of of head coach somebody that’s young And maybe we’re overthinking it And it’s just Neil Graham should be uh should be the candidate He should be the the leader in the clubhouse for the the Dallas Stars right and and maybe he is in a lot of ways We just heard how Jim Nil feels uh about what uh what Neil has has done down in the AHL with Texas So uh a lot of conversations and a lot more news I’m sure we’re going to hear and I’m really really fascinated with how the Stars are going to go about this coaching search and who eventually they land on But there’s a lot of interesting names There’s just so many we could throw out there That’s why in this next segment I want to discuss maybe some surprises and uh some European coaches that could possibly be interviewed possibly be brought up here in the next few weeks or so A surprise candidate could he be brought into Dallas i want to touch on a few of those in just a moment Today’s episode of Locked On Stars is brought to you by Monarch Money Ever 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with MonarchMoney Use code lots.nhl at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year That’s monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year by using the code locked on NHL So the reason I wanted to throw a few names out there as possible surprises is because he uh was asked Jim Niel was was asked during the uh the press conference And I believe this was Leah of the Dallas Morning News who’s a great follow uh by the way on X You can uh follow her Um I’m sure many of you already do but for those of you uh that do not ask him about possibly finding a European coach somebody out there maybe not be on a ton of radars And Neil mentioned that before they hired Dbor they did interview some some European coaches which uh I thought was rather intriguing So it got me thinking And I did some more research and I I came down to two names cuz I feel like I could throw a hundred names out there and maybe I’m just wasting time but but I just I chose two um out there that uh you know have have I guess turned some heads have had some success number one um and could be next in line And I I know it’s tough for for year coaches to to finally kind of crack the NHL level right i think there’s only a total of five now after Nikico Sturtorm was uh hired by Boston and a lot of coaches have to come over to North America before they move in But let’s just throw some some maybe some some uh some head coaches that are low on the totem pole or their odds wouldn’t be um the highest So I I came to this one number one And I guess this would be my number one candidate And for an obvious reason he has a Finnish tie And I I hope I’m pronouncing the name right but Yuka Yalon He uh was the head coach of the Finnish national team for over a decade He also was uh a coach of the Finland uh U20 team He actually has experience coaching Miko Rantin Rope Hint Artuhuru as well who’s down in Texas Yo Kirana believe it or not And I guess if you’re a head coach for Finland you’re going to run into a lot of stars players at some point with the uh amount they bring in But he’s also now the coach of the Italy national team He’s trying to kind of rebuild that So maybe his uh maybe his end goal is not become an NHL head coach but u I wanted to throw his name out there because he he’s won a gold at the Olympics He’s won a world championship three times and a world junior championship in in 2016 with Finland So a lot of success in Finland We all know the connection right it’s why I figured I would throw his name out there He also was a head coach of Yoker uh the KHL team um that of course Essel Lindell is a part owner in So there’s an even uh an even more of a tie there between um the Dallas Stars um and and uh Yuka Yalon So he’s a name I wanted to throw out there Um he was actually just named uh uh the the head head coach of Italy and there’s a great article um on NHL.com about his goal to to try to uh to try to turn uh Italy around and do it without a ton of NHL talent right and he mentions team chemistry team spirit That’s the key And of course that has bred a ton of success and talent out of the the country of Finland But Yalon’s a name I wanted to throw out there to to maybe just have uh have a name in the back of your mind as as a possibility And uh maybe he gets brought up maybe he doesn’t but uh that that’s a name that of course there’s an obvious connection with team Finland um and Dallas has some history with some stars players like Rantin and Rope Hence I’m sure he’s come in contact with some others like Mirro Hkin and Esel Lindell even um throughout his time as a head coach with Finland which actually dates back to all the way to 2007 So a lot a lot of skins on the wall there in the international game Um another name I wanted to throw out there and I guess this is the the heated rival of of Finland but Sweden Um and this is a coach that is young but has turned some heads um young he’s 45 so I it’s not crazy but I guess for head coach coaching terms but uh Sam Hallum hope I’m saying that right as two um but he was the head coach for Sweden um during the NHL fornations uh tournament um and he was the coach of Vaxjou in the Swedish Hockey League um he he took over mid-season back in 2012 um and he surprised a lot of people kind of jumping on the scene and now he’s been a head coach at the international level for the the last three seasons or so Um not a ton of crossover of course with other uh Dallas star so to speak but he was named the head coach uh by uh team Sweden back in 2223 Um he was a Swedish Hockey League champion coach of the year back in 2016 Um and has a couple of world championship bronze medals over the last couple years as well So Sam Hallum was uh another name I wanted to throw out there as a possible surprise uh we could uh see for um for the Dallas Stars just because Nil did mention he he did interview some some European coaches So um there’s a few names Yuka Yalon and Sam Hallum uh as possibly an older coach too like uh Lonan And then you have a more new and upcoming head coach uh like Hallum with uh with team Sweden So I wanted to to throw those out there Um going to be fascinating what other names could possibly be brought up Uh you know I’ve talked about Peter Lavallet a bit I I don’t think he would be a huge surprise Although I think he’s had a lot of success um kind of taking over for the for you know for new teams in in in first years sort of like Dbor had some success in his first um in his first year in a new place Um it’ll just be rather rather intriguing who the who the Dallas Stars um are going to look at But maybe there’s a surprise out there that we’re not thinking of But I I feel like the the leader in the clubhouse has to be has to be a Neil Graham of the the Texas Stars Uh just seems like he has good rapport with Jim Nil and uh Jim did mention he was going down there to to watch the playoff game last week I wouldn’t be surprised or shocked if he’s there um tonight on this Sunday when I’m recording that so or recording this So uh those are just a couple names I wanted to throw out there Um maybe just keep them in the back of your mind Um I’m not trying to uh to to create um any news by this or or stir up anything It it’s just maybe a thought experiment in in a couple names um that uh that could possibly intrigue uh you or maybe intrigue the stars um as well And of course Stars have a lot of European connections Um I I don’t think it would be totally out of the realm if they went and hired a European coach with uh the amount of of Europeans they have and of course the the Finnish connection and the Finnish mafia that uh it’s going to run it back next season here in Dallas Alrighty speaking of maybe stirring up news Jason Robertson this has had a lot of conversation and not something I necessarily want to hash out even more I think a lot of you know my stance on it but nil was asked a question about Jason Robertson So I want to play the clip and we can react to that in just a moment So I think many of you know who have been tuning into the show the last couple of uh days or so Um I I I don’t really see the connection or really I I guess see the merit in a Jason Robertson being traded but I I think you also have to deal in reality How many players are are really bulletproof are fully safe from being traded in the NHL outside of maybe a dozen you know you got the McDavids of the world and of course the Leon Dryidles Um and Jason Robertson I’ll be honest if there was a decent package in return I would be intrigued But I I don’t see why Dallas would deal off Jason Robertson And Neil was asked about the possibility of a contract extension with Robo So here’s his answer Not a ton of great stuff in it but to be honest I don’t think he could say very much uh because of a few uh circumstances Yeah we’re not allowed to yet Uh we just got to wait Uh and he’s just to clarify things So he’s still restricted the year after So it it uh but you can’t do anything till July 1st So like I said we’ve got this going on I got scouting means going on So which is of a player is that is that a player that you would definitely He’s a good player So it’s somebody that uh like I say we’ll see where signings go Do we how do you fit in the cap those are things those are decisions we have to make moving forward here I chuckled a bit when he just said “Well he’s a good player We we liked him to to have him back.” And and that’s sort of where uh I I I lean or or land on the conversation I don’t know why you wouldn’t want a a guy that is going to be a 30 goal scorer every year that um he’s healthy and plays and he he played in all 82 games this season Um and uh of course he had an injury before and injur injury in game 82 but um he’s played in all 82 the last uh three years so he’s available Uh of course he had the 109 point season a few years ago Now back-to-back 80 point seasons and um he’s had a lot of good seasons in uh in Dallas Um so uh I just thought I wanted to to share at least what uh Nil said on it because I think it’s pretty obvious he would like to have him back But in reality how does he fit into the cap you uh you look at what he’s making right now He’s on that bridge deal year four or four upcoming at 7.75 million Um and you don’t have a ton of room and you would think he’s going to want a pay raise for for what he’s done um over the last few seasons And it it doesn’t help that Tyler Sean’s still going to be on the books um a couple years That 9.85 million that Sean has signed for It would be nice to have some of that chunk to be able to use on on Jason Roberts And that’s where I think Mason Marchment really comes in with his $4.5 million of cap space if you’re able to make a trade for Marchment Not only can you help the team next year to sort of solidify the bottom six a bit more or go out find another right shot defenseman in free agency but also even potentially for next season We just need some more cap room to find space to sign a Jason Robertson It’s going to be very very tough And he didn’t mention he is a restricted free agent um the following season Uh but uh you’re going to have 3.7 come off the books next year if you’re not able to offload Matt Dumba And this is sort of where uh I I I came to uh I guess a a standpoint or uh a strong stance on the starters can make it work if they want to They can they can give Robo a raise and still find the cap space if they want to Now I think this is something that is fair to bring up Did Jim Nil make the Miko Rantin signing uh because he believed he’s not going to resign Jason Robertson um at at a certain number right uh or or give him a hefty payday Is he only going to pay one or the other i think that’s where it comes in because are you going to be able to pay Robo north of $10 million because I think a lot of people would say he’s worth it but can you pay him that and still build a Stanley Cup level roster around those two pieces now that’s a tough question start paying guys you know 101 12 million each uh you get sort of a Toronto situation where it it can become really hard to fill out that roster and and make it competitive That’s one of the things that has made the Stars so so darn good the last few seasons is I mean they are they were paying Tyler and and Jaime Ben hefty sums of money but in today’s cap era it’s not a ton Um they should have been more competitive in the primes of Jaime Ben and Tyler Sean than they were Unfortunately they’re more competitive uh with a Tyler Sean that’s 32 and coming off multiple injuries and and and Jamie Ben who was 33 Um they weren’t competitive enough during their primes Well now they’re they’re kind of opposite and you’re having a bunch of these different players head into their primes Um and you have to factor in okay uh are you only going to pay Miko Rantin was that your thought process for the next eight years and you’re sacrificing keeping Jason Robertson because I think you would take that trade-off in a lot of ways Miko Rantin a proven playoff performer He’s won a Stanley Cup Yeah he has some cold spells here and there but his playoff numbers do not lie Uh Miko Ransin is uh an elite elite playmaker uh and scorer in the postseason Um I’ve said this too I’ve defended Robo a bit His his playoff numbers aren’t uh aren’t atrocious by any means but there’s um a a pretty pretty large gap between him and Mo And maybe if you’re Jim Nil you think I would rather have Mo for the next eight years and I can use let’s say 7.75 million that comes off the books for for Robo um in other aspects Maybe you can use it to find some other deals or find some other players that are a bit cheaper um and can help this team get over the hump Uh although let’s be fair too Robo has shown up in the last couple of Western Conference Finals more than some some other players on the roster So it’s going to be a really really tough decision But I am curious if Jim Nil made the Mo uh Miko Ranson in trade with the thought process thinking down the line I’m just I’m not going to be able to afford Jason Robertson We’re not going to be able to afford him Um and I’d rather be paying $12 million to Mo and uh we we’ll have to find somebody else to replace uh Jason Robertson And yeah that that that could be a hard hard adventure That could be something difficult to try to task with but we’ve all seen other teams give up really solid players Let’s throw Jonathan Huberell out there Uh who had a lot of success in uh in uh in Florida was a captain there was part of that the core so to speak Did very well Well they they offloaded him He had a 100 point season Jonathan Ubero in Florida and they trade him for Matthew Kachchuck and then boom they win a couple of cups or they win a cup uh a few years down the down the line Maybe they win another cup here in the next few weeks So um I I just want to throw that out there because look I I’m not of the belief they should uh they should trade Jason Robertson um this year But if they feel like we’re not going to be able to resign him or that is not a part of our future well then you should probably include him in a trade package to see what you can get out of them And it’s sort of like with Mo right although it was it was a lot different but hear me out Let’s just say Colorado truly thought they were going to be priced out Well they they wanted to try to get a return for him and they did Maybe that’s a a similar situation uh that the Stars uh will be in here over the summer or uh maybe halfway a third of the way through next season So just some more thoughts on on Jason Robertson And I wanted to throw in there a little piece from Jim Nil since he did answer a question about it Uh there we go Um I was a bit all over the place in today’s episode but uh a lot of thoughts just trying to throw them out there onto Earth And I appreciate all of you for listening each and every day to Locked on Stars part of the Locked On podcast network your team every single day Peace uh please be sure to like comment let me know how you’re feeling about the coaching search for Dallas Who do you want them to hire who’s a yes for you who’s maybe an absolutely not who are you staying away from let me know that in the comments below Hit the subscribe button Hit the notification bell Never miss an episode We’ll be here with you every single day the rest of the off season Have a great Monday Stars fans I hope everybody stayed safe during all the storms The metroplex is getting pretty crazy uh right now as we speak outside So I’m going to go hunker down for the night and we’ll see you on the next episode of Locked on Stars

On today’s episode of Locked On Stars, Joey shares some sound bites from General Manager Jim Nill on the process of finding of the next head coach of the Dallas Stars. Hear Nill’s thoughts on young vs old coaches, Texas Stars Head Coach Neil Graham and more from his presser last Friday. In the following segment, Joey throws out a few names of European coaches that could be a surprise hire and be the bench boss next season. To finish out the show we go back to the saga with Jason Robertson and the potential of him being traded before next season.

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