If that happens, the Stars likely would try to find a replacement for Khudobin in free agency. There are a lot of great UFA goalies who would be willing to sign a one-year deal, and that could allow Dallas to give 21-year-old Jake Oettinger another year in the minors (if there is an AHL season).
However, the departure of Perry or Janmark would likely be filled from within. Players like Joel Kiviranta and Nick Caamano looked ready for the step-up in the playoffs, and young forwards like Jason Robertson and Ty Dellandrea also could be ready to make the jump to the NHL on a full-time basis.
"We've got kids pushing up from the bottom," Nill said. "The experience they had in the bubble was a great opportunity for the Robertsons, Dellandreas and Caamanos. Every day they were practicing with the team, watching the team and going through the highs and lows. The experience of those young players in that bubble was worth a year of playing time."
The entire trip to the Final should be great for the organization. In addition to veteran players like Jamie Benn and John Klingberg getting important playoff experience that was lacking, younger players like Miro Heiskanen, Roope Hintz and Denis Gurianov also were placed in high-pressure situations. Now, the Stars should be better immediately.
Dallas started the year 1-7-1 and finished 0-4-2, so Nill likes to concentrate on the fact the group went 36-13-5 during the middle of the season.
"Something that's forgotten in all of this is we started 1-7-1, but after that we had one of the best records in the NHL," Nill said. "If you look at our record from November to February, our record was as good as anybody in the NHL. So this wasn't a one-and-done situation - we had a good team."
Because of that, Nill sees this being a good team with minimum changes going forward. Bring back a coaching staff that learned a lot about itself and installed important changes to spark some goal-scoring after the pause. Rely on a group of defensemen that tallied 67 points in 27 playoff games - the second most in NHL history. And allow a veteran forward group led by Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Joe Pavelski and Blake Comeau to get a boost from a young group that includes Hintz, Gurianov, Kiviranta, Caamano, Robertson and Dellandrea.
"We've got a great mix of veterans, we've got a great mix of young kids coming up," Nill said. "I love the style of hockey that we play. We're hard to play against, we're a very good team defensively, and we have more offensively - I think we showed that in the playoffs."
So while there are plenty of questions to be asked, Nill feels most of the answers are right here.
"I like where our team is at," he said.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika, and listen to his podcast.
