Stars sign GM Jim Nill to two-year contract extension

One of the top guys in Big D is sticking around for the foreseeable future.

On Tuesday, the Dallas Stars announced that they had signed general manager Jim Nill to a two-year contract extension.

The deal comes as Nill’s current contract with the Stars was set to expire this offseason.

Nill has been at the helm in Dallas since April 2013. After serving for years under both Jim Devellano and Ken Holland as director of player personnel, director of scouting, and assistant general manager of the Detroit Red Wings. He used that experience to help restore the Stars to being one of the top teams in the NHL for the past decade and change.

The Hanna, Alb. native has made big moves to help bolster his roster over the years, getting both Tyler Seguin and Rich Peverly from the Boston Bruins just a few months on the job, while adding notable veterans such as Jason Spezza and Patrick Sharp to help add experience in the mid-2010s.

Last season, Nill made another blockbuster move, giving up Logan Stankoven and a few picks to acquire star forward Mikko Rantanen from the Carolina Hurricanes, with the Stars signing the Finnish scorer to an eight-year contract extension. The deal paid off, as Rantanen’s play helped the Stars reach the Western Conference final once again, even though they lost to the Edmonton Oilers.

In Nill’s first 13 seasons as GM of the team, Dallas has missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs only four times, most recently during the COVID-shortened 2021 season. The Stars made it to the Cup Final in 2020 and have advanced to the conference finals in each of the past three seasons, but have come up short of returning to the final, losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023 before bowing out to Edmonton in each of the past two years.

Nill has won the Jim Gregory Award as the NHL’s top GM in each of the past three years, the first person to accomplish the feat.

Currently, the Stars (44-18-12) hold the second-best record in the NHL, eight points back of the Colorado Avalanche.