Between a Game 7 finish in the Stanley Cup Final this past Monday and a red-hot free agency market set to open seven days later, the NHL draft is sometimes overlooked during one of hockey’s busiest stretches.
That may be the case for some front offices — like the one down in Sunrise, Fla., that’ll be rushing back from Vegas on Saturday night to prepare for a parade the next morning — but not Jim Nill and his staff.
The Stars’ general manager and his amateur scouts have been gearing up for this weekend’s draft in Vegas the same way they have for the last decade. They know the player selected 29th overall on Friday won’t carry them to a Stanley Cup Final this year, but in a few years that player could be a critical piece of the franchise’s success.
“My philosophy is it’s really the way you’ve got to build,” Nill said of the draft. “If you don’t, it’s eventually going to catch up to you.”
Every front office hopes the draft will pay dividends, but the Stars have history to prove it. The Stars drafted 12 of the players they used in this year’s playoffs — more than the Edmonton Oilers (10) and Florida Panthers (3) teams that reached the Stanley Cup Final. Eight of Dallas’ players were selected in 2017 or later.
The NHL draft has turned the Stars into a contender and has been key in earning Nill GM of the Year honors in back-to-back seasons. Players like Wyatt Johnston, Logan Stankoven, Jason Robertson and Miro Heiskanen are just a few names that show how his team’s work in the draft has paid off.
With picks in the first, fifth and seventh rounds this year, the Stars will look to add to that recent success and reputation as one of the most successful teams on draft night.
However, that wasn’t always the case in Dallas.
From 2000-2010, only three of the Stars’ eight first-round picks broke the 300-game mark — Steve Ott (848), Mark Fistric (325) and Matt Niskanen (949). The team had better success in the early 2010s but also notable misses like Julius Honka in 2014 (87 games).
The Stars changed their fate in the 2017 draft when they selected Miro Heiskanen (No. 3), Jake Oettinger (No. 26) and Jason Robertson (No. 39), three faces of the franchise today.
Four years later, they made another statement in the 2021 draft, capitalizing on the 2021 IIHF World Championship being held just months before in their backyard in Frisco. They drafted two players from Canada’s championship team — Wyatt Johnston (No. 23) and Logan Stankoven (No. 47). Just three years later, the two played key roles in leading the Stars to the Western Conference finals.
Most impressive of all, the Stars built their team through the draft without multiple top-10 picks. Heiskanen, who was selected third overall, was the only notable Stars draftee taken that high. For comparison, this year’s Edmonton team had 10 draftees, but six of them were taken in the top 10.
While top-10 picks haven’t been necessary for the Stars, first-round picks have been. Last year, they were without one for the first time since 2008 after trading it away to the New York Rangers before the season in exchange for defenseman Nils Lundkvist.
“It’s important to have a first-round pick. It’s important to have as many picks as you can to become a contending type of team,” Nill said. “When you have a first-round pick, it gives you more opportunity. There may be an opportunity to move down and grab another pick or there may be an opportunity to move up.”
The Stars have selected players like Heiskanen (2017), Oettinger (2017), Ty Dellandrea (2018), Thomas Harley (2019), Mavrik Bourque (2020), Johnston (2021) and Lian Bichsel (2022) in the first round — all of whom have either already established a spot on the NHL roster or are near doing so.
Through the draft, the Stars built a youthful core that has been critical to the team’s success. Nill said it’s also the reason they’ve been able to add other veteran pieces like Chris Tanev and Matt Duchene.
“Having those guys on entry-level contracts, it’s the only way you can really keep your depth and keep your star players together without having to get rid of somebody, so it’s such an important part of building a team,” Nill said. “That’s why I’m always so hesitant to give up picks.”
While free agency may be the more pressing deadline for the Stars in the short term, Friday’s and Saturday’s draft remains top of mind for the Stars, who plan to discover another key piece in their long-term success.
Stars picks in 2024 NHL draft
| Round | Pick |
|---|---|
| 1 | 29 |
| 5 | 158 |
| 7 | 222 |
On X/Twitter: @Lassimak
