Heika: Nill putting finishing touches on solid Stars roster

Most of my family works in construction.
Plumbers, electricians, concrete workers, general contractors.
I've seen a lot of jobs at a lot of stages of completion, but one of the biggest thrills for all concerned is when the finish carpenters come in.

COMPLETE COVERAGE: [With Khudobin, Point signed, Stars add strength between pipes | Official free agency tracker]
Window trim, crown moldings, cabinet work. The good ones not only cover up mistakes made during framing and drywall, they give the place personality. If you want glitzy or classy or cozy, a good finish guy is worth his weight in copper scraps (that's a little construction humor for you).
Jim Nill has done a lot of rebuilding in summer's past, so he knows how hard it is to remodel a kitchen or knock down a wall or two. He added Tyler Seguin and Jason Spezza and Alexander Radulov and Ben Bishop. The Stars GM has taken this team down to the studs and tried to build it back up.
So it could be a good thing to see the finish carpenters come in this summer.
While Dallas would have loved to put on the John Tavares addition (Tavares went to Toronto in free agency), it will settle for smoothing out some of the rough spots and making this Victory Green homestead ready for the reveal. On the first day of free agency, the Stars not only added a back-up goalie in

, a strong depth forward in

, and a little insurance on defense in

, they also brought back first-round draft pick
Valeri Nichushkin with five years of pro experience
(two years at $2.95 million) and signed goalie Colton Point out of college.
The result is the team should be just a little bit better in several areas.
Khudobin and Point immediately bring a new dynamic to the goaltending situation. Nill has tried to tweak the net presence while adjusting to a five-year contract for Kari Lehtonen (at $5.9 million a year) that he inherited from the previous administration. Lehtonen becomes a free agent this summer, so the Stars will now have one of the more reasonably priced goaltending situations in the league, and also will go back to the old system of having two young goalies (Point and Landon Bow) battling in the minors for the chance to be a backup.
It's a restructuring that could really pay dividends down the road, and could also be important if Bishop struggles with injuries this season.
Khudobin 32, had a solid year in Boston last season, going 16-6-7 with a 2.56 GAA and .913 save percentage. He has little playoff experience, but the Stars believe he can step in for Bishop on a longer-term basis should the need arise.
Up front, the additions of Comeau and Nichushkin could help the team get a little more scoring depth. Nichushkin was drafted 10th overall in 2013 and tallied 14 goals among 34 points in his rookie season. However, he missed most of his second season after hip surgery, and then struggled to get back into the flow of the Stars' system. He left after his third season and signed a two-year deal in the KHL.
Nichushkin, 23, produced 16 goals among 27 points in 52 games for CSKA Moscow last season and added nine more points in 19 playoff games. Nill believes Nichushkin will return as a more complete player.
"Getting Val Nichushkin back is going to be very important for us," Nill said. "I think we are getting a more mature player back. We've been watching him play over in Russia. We're getting a player back that is still very young. He's 23, and he is really starting to hit his prime, and we're excited about his development. He's excited to be back here."
Comeau, meanwhile, can add veteran experience. The 32-year-old right-handed winger had 34 points (13 goals, 21 assists) in 79 games with the Colorado Avalanche last season, and Nill said he believes Comeau will add to an already good group of scorers.
"I keep hearing about depth scoring, but after 50 or 60 games last year, we were eighth in scoring before it dropped off," Nill said. "It was there for 50 or 60 games, and I think that's an overhyped question that I don't know why it keeps coming up. We can score with anybody, and I think we added to that today."
With the addition of Comeau and Nichushkin, the Stars can fill in for the departure of Antoine Roussel to Vancouver in free agency.
On defense, the Stars are expected to bid adieu to Dan Hamhuis and Greg Pateryn as free agents and use Polak for depth. Polak, 32, returned from a leg injury and played 54 games last season. He averaged 17:39 in time on ice and added 131 hits and 84 blocked shots. The 6-2, 235-pound defensemen will compete for a top six spot, but also would provide depth if the Stars go with John Klingberg, Esa Lindell, Marc Methot, Stephen Johns, Miro Heiskanen and Julius Honka.
That youngish group of defensemen will likely be joined by a youngish group of forwards that includes Nichushkin, Devin Shore, Mattias Janmark, Radek Faksa, Brett Ritchie, Jason Dickinson, Gemel Smith and Remi Elie.
If the season started on Monday and the team signed all of its RFA's, the Stars would have a full roster of 23 and more than $4 million in cap space remaining. That's encouraging, because teams with cap space often make tweaks at the trade deadline.
There are still some issues here. Martin Hanzal had back surgery, and you won't know what he can add until October or November. What's more, the Stars still could work a trade if they want to adjust some of their areas of need.
But in the end, not only has Nill put the finishing touches on this team, he's left some room to make any necessary adjustments. And anyone who has ever worked in construction knows there's always the need for adjustments.
"I have full confidence in what we're doing," Nill said. "We've got a good core here, I know we're a good team. We know we have to get better, but you're talking about adding some pretty good pieces here."
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.