{"id":249039,"date":"2026-04-14T11:02:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T11:02:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/249039\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T11:02:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T11:02:26","slug":"dallas-stars-gm-jim-nill-discusses-injuries-playoff-format-ahead-of-first-round-series-against-minnesota-wild","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/249039\/","title":{"rendered":"Dallas Stars\u2019 GM Jim Nill discusses injuries, playoff format ahead of first-round series against Minnesota Wild"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dallas Stars<\/a> have been one of the most successful franchises in the National Hockey League over the past six seasons.<\/p>\n

Since reaching the Stanley Cup Final in the shortened 2019-20 season, the Stars have qualified for the playoffs four times, including a trip to the Western Conference Final in each of the past three seasons.<\/p>\n

This season, Dallas (48-20-12) is once again among the upper echelon of teams heading into the playoffs. They are currently the third-best team in the league with 108 points and are locked into hosting a first-round matchup against the division-rival Minnesota Wild<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With little left to play for in the regular season, general manager Jim Nill says the team\u2019s focus for the final two games, including tonight\u2019s penultimate game in Toronto, will be to stay sharp and focus on the young players who have stepped up as the Stars struggled with several injuries to their top players.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been in a battle with Minnesota for a second and third spot in our division, so there\u2019s been an incentive there to be playing well,\u201d Nill said Monday morning on TSN Radio. \u201cWe\u2019ve been banged up all year, and it\u2019s been a next-man-up mentality. It\u2019s been a great opportunity for some younger players to get that chance to play and see where they fit in.<\/p>\n

\u201cGive our guys credit, they fought through it, and it hasn\u2019t affected our team.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Stars have dealt with major injuries all season and most recently lost star defenceman Miro Heiskanen<\/a> for the remainder of the regular season with a lower-body injury. He is questionable for the start of the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Top-line centre Roope Hintz<\/a> has played just 11 minutes since the Olympic break due to a lower-body injury, while forwards Michael Bunting<\/a> and Sam Steel<\/a> are also working their way back from injury.<\/p>\n

Nill provided a positive update on a pair of injured forwards but says the timeline remains unclear for Heiskanen and Hintz heading into the playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re hoping to get Bunting back tonight. Steel is out, but we\u2019ll possibly get him back on Wednesday,\u201d said Nill. \u201cRoope, we\u2019ll have to wait and see. I don\u2019t know if he\u2019ll be ready right for the start of the playoffs. Hopefully, somewhere around the start of the first round.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then Miro. We\u2019re hoping he\u2019s going to be ready at the start of the playoffs. We\u2019ve got five or six days to get a better feel for him. You hope you\u2019re getting some guys back, but you can\u2019t count on them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nill also praised first-year head coach Glen Gulutzan, who replaced Peter DeBoer this past off-season, and his staff for navigating the multitude of injuries.<\/p>\n

\u201cGlen and his staff have done an unbelievable job. It\u2019s not easy. That was a change I thought had to be made, and for the new person coming in, there were pretty high standards,\u201d Nill said. \u201cWe haven\u2019t missed a beat, especially when you consider all the injuries. We\u2019re happy where we sit right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NHL playoff format has once come under scrutiny as many of the league\u2019s top teams will meet in the first round, including the Stars and Wild, who are the second and third best teams in the West. The winner of that series has a potential matchup with the Presidents\u2019 Cup-winning Colorado Avalanche<\/a> on deck.<\/p>\n

Despite the difficult early-round matchups on tap for his club, Nill says he\u2019s not concerned about the current playoff format.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re going to be the Stanley Cup champion, you\u2019ve got to beat the best. Just kind of the way the chips fall,\u201d said Nill. \u201cThe other thing is, with all the parity in the league, the No. 8 seed could be as good as the No. 2 or 3. That\u2019s how close these teams are now.<\/p>\n

\u201cBe careful what you wish for because there are no bad teams in the league. Whoever\u2019s making the playoffs is a good team.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dallas Stars have been one of the most successful franchises in the National Hockey League over the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249040,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[18991,102,104,103,18992,94626,94624,94625,94627],"class_list":["post-249039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-apple-news","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-dallas-stars-sports-hockey-team-team-nhl-api-25","tag-michael-bunting-sports-hockey-player-player-nhl-api-8478047","tag-miro-heiskanen-sports-hockey-player-player-nhl-api-8480036","tag-roope-hintz-sports-hockey-player-player-nhl-api-8478449","tag-sam-steel-sports-hockey-player-player-nhl-api-8479351"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}