2024-25
Record: 50-26-6, 2nd in Central Division
Playoffs: Lost in Western Conference Final
Key Losses
Mason Marchment (F – Trade with SEA), Mikael Granlund (F – Signed with ANA), Cody Ceci (D – Signed with LA), Matt Dumba (D – Trade with PIT), Evgenii Dadonov (F – Signed with NJ), and Pete DeBoer (Head Coach – Fired)
Key Additions
Radek Faksa (F – Signed via FA), and Glen Gulutzan (Head Coach – Hired)
2025-26 Preview
Bringing a New Attitude
On June 6th, the Dallas Stars fired head coach Pete DeBoer after three straight Western Conference Finals appearances and some controversy following how the Stars season ended with DeBoer seemingly blaming Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger in both the Game 5 post-game and season-ending press conferences.
“The reality is, if you go back to last year’s playoffs, he’s lost six of seven games to Edmonton and we gave up two (goals) on two (shots) in an elimination game,” DeBoer said. “It was partly to spark our team and wake them up and partly knowing that status quo had not been working. And that’s a pretty big sample size.”
While understanding pulling Oettinger in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final, Stars general manager Jim Nill openly admitted that those comments by DeBoer created tension.
“I think everybody did,” Nill said. “I think even Pete was remorseful of it a little bit. I don’t think he handled that the way he wanted to. But you have to remember you’re under the duress of everything going on in that.”
“What I do at the end of every season, players deserve to be heard,” Nill said of the postseason reviews he conducted with all of the players to help him make his decision. “I’ve been in the business a long time and I interview all of the players and tell them to be truthful with me. But I’ve also been around long enough to know that if a guy is only getting five minutes of ice time, he’s not going to like the coach. I understand that. I take it all in, analyze it and we talk about it internally. Some of it comes into play, some of it doesn’t. You have to really balance those things.”
On July 1st, The Stars announced that they hired Glen Gulutzan as their new head coach. This hiring acted as a reunion for the team and Gulutzan as he previously made his head coaching debut with the Stars in 2011-12 season, but would only last two seasons before being relieved of his duties in May of 2013.
“We are thrilled to name Glen as the head coach of the Dallas Stars,” Nill said. “Since his previous time in Dallas, Glen has worked tirelessly to establish himself as one of the most respected coaches in the NHL. His extensive NHL experience, both as a head coach and assistant coach, speaks to his ability to innovate and adapt to the modern game, as well as build relationships with his players. Glen has worked with some of the best players in the world and continually found ways to maximize their skill sets to contribute to team success. We have full confidence that he is the right person to elevate our team to the next level.”
“My family and I are excited to come back to Texas where I started my NHL coaching journey more than a decade ago,” Gulutzan said. “Jim and his staff have built a roster that is one of the most talented and deepest in the entire League. The right pieces are in place to compete for the Stanley Cup on a yearly basis. I’m ready to get to Dallas and start the preparation for next season.”
“He’s a young man who has paid his dues and worked his way up,” Nill said. “He’s probably the first one to admit it probably happened too soon here, but when you’re offered a job you want and have always dreamed of doing, you’re not going to say no to it. But he was willing to go backwards and make himself who he is today. We think he’s the right coach for the Dallas Stars. He has played against us the last two conference finals, so he knows us like a book. He knows our strengths and he knows our weaknesses, and he looks forward to making those adjustments.”
“What I would like to do right from the start is we’ve got to up our physicality a little bit, one degree through 82 games, because you can’t just turn that switch on, you have to build it in,” Gulutzan said. “We’re not going to be running around, because we’ve got too good of players, but there has to be an element of physicality so we’re better prepared for the playoffs. That’s something we can do. Wherever you put your energy, that’s where you get a little bit of a pop, and we’re going to put our energy there, we’re going to ask a little more from our guys.”
After acknowledging his past failures, Gulutzan noted that he will work with his coaching staff to help tweak and improve the Stars system.
“I’m going to look at our roster with our coaches, and we have great coaches, and we’re going to take a deep dive,” Gulutzan said. “I’ve worked with five different coaches and I’ve played for a lot of systems. We’re going to put together a system of what’s best for us. Now, I’ve got a couple of tweaks in mind. I’m not going to mention them, but at the end of the day we’re going to put something together that’s best for the Dallas Stars and the personnel that we have.”
Small Splashes
Going into the offseason, the Stars made a small splash by re-signing forward Matt Duchene to a four-year deal, captain Jamie Benn to a one-year deal, and signing Radek Faksa to a three-year deal.
“We knew going in that there was not a lot of depth in this free agent group, at least on the high end in that,” Nill said. “A lot of that is the cap increased a lot, so teams were able to sign their own guys. That’s probably the major part of it. Some years, you’re going to have some guys available and some not. I think the biggest part is the cap. We saw an increase this year, and teams were able to fit guys in. It really changed the [free agency] period.”
“For me, I think the last two years have been a learning process in the playoffs,” Duchene said. “Now I feel I can use what I’ve learned in the playoffs and apply it going forward. And I feel really good about getting the chance to do it with this team.”
“I was talking to Matt about extensions even before the trade deadline,” Nill said. “I know Matt and his family love it here and they wanted some security, and we were on board with that. It’s a deal where both sides are happy.”
“A lot of people would love to play for the Dallas Stars, and I’m a guy who gets to, so I didn’t want to mess around with that,” Duchene said. “You have a chance to win here, and that’s the most important thing for me. My two years with the Stars so far have been fantastic, and other than not winning the Stanley Cup, I don’t think it could have gone any better. I’m really hungry to keep pushing forward to reach the ultimate goal, and I think this is the best place to do that.”
For Faksa, who spent the 2024-25 season with the St. Louis Blues, the signing signaled a reunion between the player and the Stars.
“We missed Radek this year,” Nill said. “He’s been a big part of our team for a long time. He’s a big, heavy body. He’s very good defensively, a great penalty killer, very good on draws and he’s got a physical element to his game. It’s something that we thought we were really missing in the playoffs and he brings that. We watched him closely in St. Louis and he was a force for them.”
Projected Lineup
Offense
Jason Robertson — Roope Hintz — Mikko Rantanen
Oskar Back — Matt Duchene — Tyler Seguin
Jamie Benn — Wyatt Johnston — Mavrik Bourque
Sam Steel — Radek Faksa — Colin Blackwell
Defense
Esa Lindell — Miro Heiskanen
Thomas Harley — Ilya Lyubushkin
Lian Bichsel — Nils Lundkvist
Goalies
Jake Oettinger
Casey DeSmith
Resources
- Heika, Mike. Stars make “difficult” decision to fire DeBoer, begin search for new head coach, June 6, 2025. https://www.nhl.com/stars/news/dallas-stars-make-difficult-decision-to-fire-pete-deboer-begin-search-for-new-head-coach-060625.
- Stars, PR. Dallas Stars name Glen Gulutzan as head coach, July 1, 2025. https://www.nhl.com/stars/news/dallas-stars-name-glen-gulutzan-as-head-coach-070125.
- Heika, Mike. Stars hire Glen Gulutzan as next head coach, name Neil Graham an assistant, July 1, 2025. https://www.nhl.com/stars/news/dallas-stars-hire-glen-gulutzan-as-next-head-coach-name-neil-graham-an-assistant-070125.
- Heika, Mike. Ready for it: Gulutzan excited to bring experience, knowledge to second stint with Stars, July 2, 2025. https://www.nhl.com/stars/news/ready-for-it-glen-gulutzan-excited-to-bring-experience-knowledge-to-second-stint-with-dallas-stars-070225.
- Heika, Mike. Matt Duchene excited to continue learning, growing in next four years with Stars, July 9, 2025. https://www.nhl.com/stars/news/matt-duchene-excited-to-continue-learning-growing-in-next-four-years-with-dallas-stars-070925.
- Clark, Josh. Making moves: Stars make small splashes, round out lineup in first day of free agency, July 1, 2025. https://www.nhl.com/stars/news/making-moves-dallas-stars-make-small-splashes-round-out-lineup-in-first-day-of-free-agency-070125.
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