Detroit Red Wings
What if Red Wings Had Named Nill GM?
Nill was Detroit assistant GM prior to taking over Stars
Former Detroit Red Wings assistant GM Jim Nill is up for the award as the NHL’s top GM for the third straight season. He’s won the Jim Gregory Award in each of the past two years.
Nill’s Dallas Stars are in the Stanley Cup Western Conference final for the third successive season.
Kevin Cheveldayoff (@NHLJets), Jim Nill (@DallasStars) and Bill Zito (@FlaPanthers) are the three finalists for the 2024-25 Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award. #NHLAwards
Details: https://t.co/h95P8BDRhh pic.twitter.com/sodB7OPwlJ
— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) May 23, 2025
Add it all up, and it’s certainly fair to ponder the notion and even to pose the question.
What if the Red Wings had gone with Nill to replace Ken Holland as GM instead of Steve Yzerman? Where would the team be today?
Now, we’re not Sherman and Mr. Peabody. We can’t jump in the Wayback Machine and race back in time in search of the answer.
Hindsight is always going to be 20-20.
Still, you have to wonder – if Nill was currently Detroit’s GM, would the Stanley Cup chances of the Red Wings this spring still be nil?
Looking at the work he’s done in Dallas, it leaves a person to wonder.
Nill Helped Assemble Title-Winning Red Wings
His performance as Detroit’s director of amateur scouting and player development and assistant GM definitely were displaying the qualities that Nill has emphasized since arriving in Dallas in 2013. His touch on draft day has brought the Stars such talent as Roope Hintz, Wyatt Johnston and Thomas Harley. Nill’s top three picks in the 2017 NHL entry draft were Miro Heiskanen, Jake Oettinger and Jason Robertson.
It absolutely didn’t help Detroit’s future cause that top amateur scouts Joe McDonnell and Mark Leach were following Nill to Dallas.
Yzerman, who won the NHL’s top GM award with Tampa Bay in 2015, has also enjoyed much success in the draft for the Red Wings. However where Nill has shone is in his ability and willingness to roll the dice on blockbuster deals. Within a year of taking over in Dallas, he added Sergei Gonchar, Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza and current Red Wings assistant GM Shawn Horcoff via trades.
The man behind the @DallasStars roster 🌟
Jim Nill chats with @DavidAmber and @lukegazdic ahead of Game 2 in Dallas pic.twitter.com/vpbEG8Abda
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 23, 2025
The present Dallas playoff run is being fueled by two massive moves that landed Dallas Mikko Rantanen, Mikael Granlund and Cody Ceci.
They say that timing is everything. And the fact of the matter is that in 2013, the Red Wings were still in win now mode. Changing GMs wasn’t a move that would’ve ever been on the front burner at that time. No one could’ve imagined that four years later, the franchise would be launching a stretch of nine successive seasons of playoff absences.
That being said, what if the team had determined it was worthwhile to move mountains to keep Nill in the fold? Where would the club be today?
It’s entirely possible that the Red Wings might be in the same predicament today if Nill were in charge. But that fact of the matter is we’ll never know for sure.
