| Jim Nill | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born | (1958-04-11)April 11, 1958 (age 67) Hanna, Alberta, Canada | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) | ||
| Weight | 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb) | ||
| Position | Right Wing | ||
| Shot | Right | ||
| Played for | St. Louis Blues Vancouver Canucks Boston Bruins Winnipeg Jets Detroit Red Wings | ||
| National team |  Canada | ||
| NHL draft | 89th overall,1978 St. Louis Blues | ||
| Playing career | 1980–1991 | ||
James Edward Nill (born April 11, 1958) is aCanadian formerice hockey player and the currentgeneral manager of theDallas Stars of theNational Hockey League (NHL). Nill played in the NHL throughout the 1980s with theSt. Louis Blues,Vancouver Canucks,Boston Bruins,Winnipeg Jets, andDetroit Red Wings, retiring in 1990. Prior to making his NHL debut Nill also played forCanada at the1980 Winter Olympics. He worked as ascout for theOttawa Senators before joining the Red Wings in an executive role in 1994, staying with the team before moving to take up the general manager role with Dallas in 2013.
Born inHanna,Alberta, Nill played one season for theDrumheller Falcons of theAlberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) in 1975, after which he played three seasons with theMedicine Hat Tigers of theWCHL. He was drafted by theSt. Louis Blues in the third round, 89th overall, in the1978 NHL Amateur Draft.
The next season, Nill played with theUniversity of Calgary before signing with theCanadian national team for 1979–80. Nill scored 32 points in 45 exhibition games before playing six games, scoring one goal and two assists, for Canada at the1980 Lake Placid Olympics.
Nill played one season for theSalt-Lake Golden Eagles of theCentral Hockey League (CHL) in 1980–81. He finally made his NHL debut in1982 for the St. Louis Blues. He only played one season for the Blues before being traded to theVancouver Canucks withTony Currie,Rick Heinz and St. Louis' fourth-round draft pick (Shawn Kilroy) in the1982 NHL Entry Draft in exchange forGlen Hanlon on March 9, 1982. He helped the Canucks to the1982 Stanley Cup Finals where they would lose to theNew York Islanders 4–0.
After two more seasons in Vancouver, Nill was traded to theBoston Bruins in exchange forPeter McNab on February 3, 1984. He did not receive very much ice time in Boston and consequently the Bruins ended up trading him to theWinnipeg Jets forMorris Lukowich on February 4, 1985. He played nearly four years for Winnipeg. He was sent to theAmerican Hockey League (AHL)'sMoncton Hawks. He did not stay inNew Brunswick long asDetroit Red Wings head coachJacques Demers liked his tough style of play and acquired him on January 11, 1988 in exchange for fellow journeyman NHLerMark Kumpel.
Nill played the final three years of his NHL career in Detroit with brief stints for the AHL'sAdirondack Red Wings. In Adirondack, he was a teammate ofSheldon Kennedy. He retired from professional hockey after1991.
After Nill retired as an active player, he joined the data analytics of theOttawa Senators as amateur scout. He was promoted to professional scout after only two years. He joined the Detroit Red Wings' front office in the summer of 1994 following his three-year stint with Ottawa.
Nill's duties with Detroit included directing their amateur scouting and selections at the annual NHL Entry Draft. He had also served as the general manager of the Adirondack Red Wings.
Nill continued to oversee the development of the Red Wings' prospects that are currently assigned to Detroit's main affiliate, theGrand Rapids Griffins of the AHL, as well as those in theCanadian junior and European leagues.
In his management role with the Detroit Red Wings, he helped the team to fourStanley Cup Championships in1997,1998,2002 and2008.
In April 2013, Nill was hired as general manager of theDallas Stars. He immediately made several major transactions, starting with trading a sixth-round pick in the2013 NHL Entry Draft to the Ottawa Senators in exchange fordefencemanSergei Gonchar, then signed Gonchar to a two-year, $10 million contract.[1] On July 4, 2013, in a blockbuster trade, Nill sent2011 NHL All-StarLoui Eriksson (as well as prospectsJoe Morrow,Reilly Smith andMatt Fraser) to theBoston Bruins in exchange for former second overall pickTyler Seguin as well asRich Peverley andRyan Button.[2] On the same day, he traded prospectPhilip Larsen and a seventh-round pick in the2016 NHL Entry Draft to theEdmonton Oilers in exchange for their captainShawn Horcoff.[3]
On July 1, 2014, Nill traded for Ottawa centre and captainJason Spezza and right wingerLudwig Karlsson in exchange forAlex Chiasson,Nick Paul, Alex Guptill and a second-round pick in the2015 NHL Entry Draft. On the same day, he also signed unrestricted free agent forwardAleš Hemský to a three-year, $12 million contract.[4]
On July 10, 2015, Nill traded for forwardPatrick Sharp and defensive prospectStephen Johns from theChicago Blackhawks in exchange for defencemanTrevor Daley and forwardRyan Garbutt.[5] On July 15, 2015, Nill signed unrestricted free agent defencemanJohnny Oduya to a two-year, $7.5 million contract.[6]
On June 28, 2023, Nill was awarded the 2022-23Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award after the Dallas Stars posted a record of 47-21-14 for 108 points in the 2022-23 regular season, at the time their highest point total since 2015-16.[7]
On June 10, 2024, Nill was awarded the 2023-24 Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award, winning the award for the second year in a row, after the Stars posted a record of 52-21-9 for 113 points in the 2023-24 regular season, their most single-season wins since their 2005-06 season and their highest point total since their Stanley Cup-winning 1998-99 season.[8]
On June 27, 2025, Nill was awarded the 2024-2025 Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award for the third consecutive time, after the Stars posted a record of 50-26-6 for 106 points in the 2024-25 regular season. Nill made one of the most notable moves of the season at the trade deadline on March 7th, 2025, by acquiringMikko Rantanen from theCarolina Hurricanes in exchange forLogan Stankoven, two first-round picks, and two third round picks. He then signed Rantanen to an eight-year, $96 million contract extension.[9][10]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1974–75 | Drumheller Falcons | AJHL | 58 | 30 | 30 | 60 | 103 | 12 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 35 | ||
| 1975–76 | Medicine Hat Tigers | WCHL | 62 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 69 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 20 | ||
| 1976–77 | Medicine Hat Tigers | WCHL | 71 | 23 | 24 | 47 | 140 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | ||
| 1977–78 | Medicine Hat Tigers | WCHL | 72 | 47 | 46 | 93 | 252 | 12 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 37 | ||
| 1978–79 | University of Calgary | CIAU | 17 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 36 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 1979–80 | Canadian National Team | Intl | 45 | 13 | 19 | 32 | 54 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1980–81 | Salt Lake Golden Eagles | CHL | 79 | 28 | 34 | 62 | 222 | 16 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 38 | ||
| 1981–82 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 61 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 127 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1981–82 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 8 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 16 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 67 | ||
| 1982–83 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 65 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 136 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 1983–84 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 51 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 78 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1983–84 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 27 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 81 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 1984–85 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 49 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 62 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1984–85 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 20 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 38 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 28 | ||
| 1985–86 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 61 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 75 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 1986–87 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 36 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 52 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 1987–88 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 24 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 44 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1987–88 | Moncton Hawks | AHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1987–88 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 36 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 55 | 16 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 62 | ||
| 1988–89 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 71 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 83 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | ||
| 1989–90 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 15 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1989–90 | Adirondack Red Wings | AHL | 20 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1990–91 | Adirondack Red Wings | AHL | 32 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 74 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| NHL totals | 524 | 58 | 87 | 145 | 854 | 59 | 10 | 5 | 15 | 203 | ||||
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Canada | Oly | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| Senior totals | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| Award | Year | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| NHL | |||
| Stanley Cup (Director of Player Development/Director of Scouting) | 1997,1998 | ||
| Stanley Cup (Asst. General Manager) | 2002,2008 | ||
| Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award | 2023,2024,2025 | ||
| International | |||
| 4 Nations Face-Off champion | 2025 (associate general manager) | ||
| Preceded by | General Manager of the Dallas Stars 2013–present | Incumbent |
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