Look at the bold moves Jim Nill has made as the Dallas Stars’ general manager – Sergei Gonchar, Lindy Ruff, Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza, Ales Hemsky – and you see only part of the picture.

“I was close to making some moves last year,” Nill told Yahoo Sports recently, “and it was a good thing I didn’t.”

Trades?

“Yeah. Trades.”

What happened?

“Stayed patient,” Nill said. “Rode it out. There’s a time for everything. I’m glad I was patient with it.”

Nill wouldn’t reveal what he almost did, of course. He just laughed. But he said he might not have been so patient in the past, and he did share this: After the Stars snapped their five-year playoff drought and came oh-so-close to forcing Game 7 in their first-round series with the Anaheim Ducks, he sat with owner Tom Gaglardi and president Jim Lites. They talked hockey, as they often do, and said to themselves, “Oh, boy. Good thing we didn’t do that one.”

It’s not just what you do. It’s what you don’t do, too.

Nill has learned that lesson in his own life, and now he is applying it to the Stars. As much as they want to turn around this franchise fast, they want to build it to last. As well as they have done so far, the line is fine and the journey long. This is only Year 2 of the rebuild.

“The more you’re in the business, the more you realize humility is very important,” Nill said. “Stay humble. The minute you think you’ve got it, you don’t.”

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Nill might be the most humble man in hockey – quiet, polite, approachable, unpretentious. Some of it comes from his nature. Some of it comes from his faith. Some of it comes from his experience.

View photos Nill brought Shawn Horcoff and Tyler Seguin to Dallas in the summer of 2013. (Getty) More

The first time he was a candidate for an NHL GM job, it was 2000. He interviewed with the Calgary Flames, and he was excited. He was from Hanna, Alberta. He would be going home. He was one of three finalists.

He didn’t get the job.

“Looking back,” he said, “I wasn’t ready.”

He was qualified. He had played nine seasons in the NHL, and he had spent nine seasons in NHL front offices – three with the Ottawa Senators, six with the Detroit Red Wings. He had helped build two Stanley Cup teams.

But there is a difference between qualified and ready.

Nill spent 13 more years in Detroit. After the 2004-05 lockout, owner Mike Ilitch wanted to lock up Nill and GM Ken Holland. In exchange for a high salary for an assistant GM, Nill committed to staying with the Wings. At least half a dozen teams still called anyway – and more might have called if he were available – but he was content. His family had a stable situation. He got to work with the likes of Holland, Jimmy Devellano, Scotty Bowman, Mike Babcock and Steve Yzerman. He helped build two more Cup teams.

“I think Jimmy Nill was ready a long time ago,” Holland said. “Jimmy probably could have left a lot sooner. We benefitted from that, but I also think he benefitted from more experiences, more experiences, more experiences. Not everything you do works, and when it doesn’t work, it’s also an opportunity to evaluate yourself and your decision – why something didn’t work the way you thought it should work.”

Nill led the Wings’ drafting and developing, helping unearth players like Pavel Datsyuk, Johan Franzen, Jimmy Howard, Niklas Kronwall and Henrik Zetterberg. The Wings’ general philosophy with prospects was to over-ripen them – to keep them in Europe or the minors not until they could play in the NHL, but until they were ready to help the Wings win. That kind of philosophy can work for executives, too.

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