"I think it's going to really add to us," Stars coach Jim Montgomery said. "We're going to be more dynamic and faster."
And it might be just the first change for this team.
Dallas sits 23-19-4 and in third place in the Central Division. The Stars have a small cushion in the battle for a playoff spot with 36 games remaining, and that's even when they are coming off two disappointing losses and have a bit of a crisis on their hands. Montgomery said Saturday he was frustrated trying to change the team's "culture of mediocrity."
Those are strong words, but Nill said the team was embracing the challenge of gaining consistency and was working as a group to solve the problems.
"We've got to get better," Nill said. "We've been inconsistent. We've gone one- or two-game stretches where we've been really good, and one or two where we're off. And coach is demanding -- he wants that consistency, and that's what we have to get to."
A big part of establishing that consistency is finding an identity. Adding Cogliano's speed helps push the Stars in a direction where maybe they can be a team that creates more offense to go along with the good goaltending.
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"My biggest thing is what is our identity? Are we a going to be a heavy team to play against? Are we going to be a fast team to play against? What's our identity, I think that's what we have to find right now," Nill said.
"We've seen it in different spurts. We've seen we can be fast, we can be a high shot team. We've seen we can be a heavy, hard team. We made that trip to Western Canada, and we were a tough team to play against. We were heavy and hard. Are we that or are we a mix of that? That's what we have to find out right now."
If they do, then maybe Nill will be making more moves.
The Stars currently have three players on injured reserve in Martin Hanzal (back), Marc Methot (knee) and Stephen Johns (neck/headaches). Any one of the three could return at some point or any one of the three could be put on long-term IR, which could help facilitate a trade by creating a situation where the Stars can go over the salary cap.
Nill said he's going to be patient before the Feb. 25 trade deadline, and is hoping any or all of the three can recover and play.
"We've got five or six more weeks to see where we're at, and right now there's no time frame," he said of the injuries.