What the Dallas Stars did on the evening of Friday, June 23rd – sending the 29th and 70th overall picks to the Chicago Blackhawks for the 26th overall selection – might go down in franchise history as one of the greatest deals of all-time. That’s because general manager Jim Nill managed his Draft picks well enough to land the consensus number-one goaltender in the 2017 Entry Draft field, Boston University netminder Jake Oettinger.
The Stars’ system has long been a deathbed for young goaltenders, due to the lack of developmental assistance given from coaching staffs and front offices.