At bye week, Nill pleased with way Stars are trending

The Dallas Stars hit the mid-point of the National Hockey League season and the bye week pretty much at the same time.
It has been a first half of learning, and more than a few ups and downs, for a Dallas team that entered the regular season with titanic expectations after a busy offseason that saw Ken Hitchcock repatriated as head coach, Marc Methot and Ben Bishop added to stabilize the blue line and the goaltending position, respectively, while Alexander Radulov and Martin Hanzal were signed to bolster the forward corps.
As the team hit the bye week, they were playing arguably their best hockey of the season and were in the top wild-card spot in the tightly-packed Western Conference.
We had a chance to chat with general manager Jim Nill about his assessment of the first half of the season, and his thoughts on what might lie ahead for the Stars in the second half.

Scott Burnside: At the start of the season, do you use benchmarks -- whether it's Thanksgiving or mid-point? Do you have a point total in mind -- we should be here or we should be this place in the standings? Do you map out a season that way?
Jim Nill:I kind of go 20-game segments. See where a team's at. You're always hoping to get off to a quick start. Looking on our year, I was really watching our (first) 20 games there and I think there was a lot of learning taking place. It was coaches getting to know players, players getting to know coaches. Figuring out our identity as a team. I think we probably could have had two or three more wins in that first 20-game segment, but we didn't. But I really thought the last part of that 20-game segment, we started getting our identity and started playing the way we wanted to play. Our numbers are trending the way we want them to trend and they were matching up with what I'm seeing with my eyes type of thing. You've always got to be careful -- we're all analytics and numbers and all this da, da, da -- but you want to make sure that matches up with what you're seeing on the ice, too. You can have great numbers. but you don't like what you're seeing on the ice or visa-versa. You might like what you see on the ice, but the numbers aren't adding up. But when they do both to start add up, and you are starting to get points, you start to get a feel for where your team's at.

SB: Have you been pleased then with segment over segment, so from the first 20-games now to the end of this second 20-game segment? Are you more enthusiastic or optimistic now about the identity, about the team play, about what you're seeing on a nightly basis?
JN:Yeah, the last 20 games, I like how we're playing. I'd say the last eight weeks, we had a couple of long road trips and that I think we really started to settle in. We had a good stretch at home. And then, when we went on the road, I think that was kind a defining moment there -- a couple of big games, a couple of big series against teams that we had to have the right push, and I think we did it. And I liked how we played, even if you didn't win, I liked how we're playing these games. And I think we've been that way for about eight weeks.

SB: You made four on-ice addition significant moves in the offseason. I think it's fair to say that Alexander Radulov has been -- well, let me ask it -- what do you see from Alexander Radulov? And what you know of how he impacts the team in the dressing room, on the ice, at practice -- is it different than you thought, or is this what you were hoping or expecting when you signed him?
JN: As far as production, skill level and all that, it's what I thought. But what's really impressed me is with him as an individual -- the passion he brings to the game, what he brings to the dressing room, what he brings on the ice, what he brings when the game's on the line. Those are what has impressed me the most. He's become one of the leaders on our team, which isn't easy for a guy to do over the first 10-15-20 games. And he's done it, which is good.

SB: Not sure we've ever seen a guy track pucks and make plays like Radulov does on a consistent basis. I know Ken Hitchcock talks about it all the time. He talks about the infectious nature of his play.
JN:No. It's true. We use him. We've got players developing all over, we've got players down in Austin developing; players over in Europe, North America, college, developing. He's become our kind of poster boy on how to. You want guys to be on the puck, tracking pucks down, stealing pucks, winning puck battles. In the end, either you've got the puck or the other guy has the puck. Who wins that battle? He wins the battles 80 percent of the time. He's almost become a poster boy for when we go in to see a prospect and our player development guys are talking to them. They always say, 'Hey, watch Radulov play. This is how you become a successful player.' That's a compliment to Alexander. It shows you're doing things the right way and you do it the right way on the ice, and he does it in the dressing room and off the ice, too.

SB: With a player like that, you're able to accept it when he takes the odd penalty, but you put up with it because there's so much more positive in his game.
JN: That's the way it is with a lot of players. We're always talking to players -- there's highs and lows in the game and stuff. It's a tough game; there's going to be mistakes made and stuff. As long as you're doing the right things. Mistakes are going to happen, but if you're playing the right way -- playing hard, playing on the right side of the puck -- you can live with mistakes, and that's how Alexander is. Yeah, he's going to take the odd hooking penalty, or tripping somebody. But it's because of the way he's playing you kill those penalties off and that makes it a lot easier.

SB: It's been a frustrating season for Marc Methot, and no question it's been frustrating for Martin Hanzal -- two key additions who have struggled to stay in the lineup. It strikes me that it's almost like getting a new player when those guys return to the lineup. Is it hard to assess them? Or do you look at them like you're getting two new players, assuming they come back at 100 percent?
JN: You know, they're good players. They're impactful players. They're veterans. They bring things in the dressing room -- on the ice, off the ice. Whenever you do see them play, Martin Hanzal, whenever he's come in our lineup, he changes our team completely. So you know what's there once we get back. Same thing with Marc Methot. I think our penalty killing is going to be get better once he comes back. He's a big-sized body; he's going to snuff out rushes and stuff. So, you know, you're getting two good players back. Injuries are part of the game, so you've got to adapt to that and it's opportunity for somebody else. So we're looking forward to when they get back, but the good side is that other guys have grabbed the moment and taken advantage. So it's been a good all-around.

SB: We recently had a long chat with Ken Hitchcock and he admitted being pleasantly surprised at the level of team defense without Marc Methot in the lineup. You're hard to play against. Dan Hamhuis and Greg Pateryn have emerged as a terrific shutdown group, Esa Lindell and John Klingberg have taken on more responsibilities. Are those the kinds of areas where it's the silver lining -- for lack of a better term -- when you don't have a guy like Marc Methot in the lineup?
JN:It was opportunity. Life. Life is about opportunity and we all get opportunities, and what do you make of it? That's the good thing. We've seen some guys that have emerged that we didn't know what level they were going to be at and they've come in and played well. And that's going to bode well for us for down the road.

SB: How would you assess Ben Bishop's play through the first half of the season, and maybe what you've seen from him from the first 20 games, and what you've seen from him in the last 20 games, heading into the second half?
JN: What I've liked about Ben is he's made the big saves when we've needed them. I think it's a tough thing for goalies. It's easy to sit back and say, 'Oh, that was a bad goal, or this was a bad goal.' There's things that happen in games. The big thing with goaltending is we need to make the saves when they're needed at the right time of the game, and that's what Ben has done for us. I think between that and how he manages the game, how he manages the puck, I think it's helped our overall team. Breakouts. I think we've seen two or three games we've won games because he's made a pass, catch a line change or he's helped our defense get out of a tough situation on a forecheck. Those are things that I think he's really changed our team. Now, saying that, I think some of that has been a learning process for the team, too. He's got to get used to a defenseman. They've got to understand how he plays, and same for some of the forwards, so been a bit of a learning curve there. But overall, I'm very happy with Ben, and like I said, I think there's some games, some goals he'd like to have back, but that's the game a little bit, too. I can see he's trending up getting better and better and more consistent as we go along. And then the other part of it is I think that Kari Lehtonen has come in and done a great job, so we're in a good position as far as our goaltending.

SB: You do have some players that aren't where you might have hoped they would be -- or thought they would be -- offensively, whether it's Devin Shore or Brett Ritchie or Jason Spezza. Is that a function of finding roles with a new coaching staff, and are you optimistic that those players will be able to make up some ground in the second half of the season?
JN: I think that's part of the game. We're going to see that every year. Players -- whether it's a 10-game, 20-game segment, or a season -- some years, some games, pucks go in. Sometimes they don't. It's a little bit a function of their roles. They've got to find roles. I think it's a function of our system, maybe a little bit, but that's a good thing, because if you're going to be good, you've got to be good defensively. I think it's a little bit of both. I think some of it's on the players. They've got to find their way a little bit, too. Now, the good thing is I think they are contributing in other ways -- the guys that aren't scoring. And that's important, but you're going to have some years where guys are going to score 15 or 20 goals, and some years they're going to score 10 or 15. That's a little bit of the game at times.

SB: Do you think about the playoffs at this stage? Is it too early to be looking at the standings? You're in a playoff spot, which is where you want to be. How do you view the big picture looking toward the playoffs as you head into the second half?
JN: Our goal is to make the playoffs. Right now, we're in a battle. There's nobody in our division, in our conference, or in the league that's guaranteed a spot yet. That's how good the league is and where it's at, and a lot of things can happen. But I like where we're trending. I like the way we're playing. Still think there's more growth there yet, too. I think if we keep doing what we've been doing the last eight weeks, we're going to make the playoffs. That's where we want to be. People keep saying, too, you want to be in the first seed -- first, second, third. Really, in today's game, it doesn't matter where you're at. It's about making the playoffs. Whoever makes the playoffs has as good a chance as anybody at winning the Stanley Cup. That's our game nowadays. You can say there are two or three teams might be right now trending a little bit higher, but that can change, too. You've got to get in the playoffs. The most important thing is if we play the right way, we're going to give ourselves a good chance to be in the playoffs, and if we do that, we're going to have a good chance to be successful in the playoffs.

SB: One final question. Maybe the most important addition in the offseason was Ken Hitchcock and I wonder if halfway through the season, if there are things that surprise you about him about how he approaches his job?
JN: I think the thing that's maybe surprised me the most, and it's a good thing, is his willingness to change a little. Ken's been around a long time and it'd be easy for him to say, 'Hey, here's how I did it in St. Louis for eight years, and we had success and they're still building off that because of the foundation.' But the game has changed over those eight or 10 years and his willingness to adapt and to change. He's been known as a certain type of coach and you've got to do this or that. He knows he's got to deal with players different. It's a differently mentality. Younger players are different than 15-20 years ago and he understands that, and to be a successful coach, that's what you have to do.
This story was not subject to approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club. You can follow Scott on Twitter at @OvertimeScottB, and listen to his Burnside Chats podcast here.