The biggest personnel misstep of the past few Dallas Stars seasons wasn’t the decision to allow the synergistic defensive players that made the 2015-16 season to leave. It wasn’t the odd decision to call the $10.5 million two-headed goalie monster good enough, and it wasn’t even the idea to turn over 2⁄3 of a penalty kill. Heck, it wasn’t even trading a salary-controlled, second-pairing defenseman for a dude named Greg.
No, it was the decision that they should change the paradigm by starting, finishing and playing the entire season with eight defenseman on the NHL roster.