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Greg Wyshynski
The Dallas Stars are bringing again Glen Gulutzan as their head coach 12 years after he was fired by the group, a supply confirmed to ESPN amid a number of stories Sunday.
Gulutzan, who was serving as an assistant coach with the Edmonton Oilers, replaces Pete DeBoer, who was fired by the Stars earlier this month after three seasons. An official announcement by the staff is anticipated shortly.
Gulutzan will inherit a proficient roster that has been runner-up within the Western Convention for 3 straight seasons. That features star winger Mikko Rantanen, whom the Stars acquired on the commerce deadline and signed to an eight-year, $96 million extension.
The 53-year-old Gulutzan coached the Stars from 2011 to 2013, going 64-57-9 and lacking the playoffs in each seasons. He had been employed to interchange Marc Crawford after teaching the Stars’ AHL affiliate for 2 seasons and the ECHL Las Vegas Wranglers for six.
Two weeks after being employed by the Stars in 2013 to run the staff, present basic supervisor Jim Nill fired Gulutzan, saying the membership determined to “go in a special course.” Dallas then employed veteran coach Lindy Ruff.
Now, Nill is rehiring Gulutzan in hopes that he can lead the staff to the Stanley Cup.
After being fired by Dallas, Gulutzan moved on to change into an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks beneath John Tortorella and Willie Desjardins earlier than being employed by the Calgary Flames in 2016 as head coach. He lasted two seasons there, making the playoffs as soon as, earlier than being changed by Invoice Peters.
Gulutzan moved on to change into an assistant coach with the Oilers for seven seasons beneath 4 completely different head coaches. He had a very good relationship with star heart Connor McDavid and ran the staff’s energy play, which was No. 1 within the NHL (26.8% conversion fee) throughout his time in Edmonton.
Dallas started looking for a brand new coach after firing DeBoer, who posted a .665 regular-season factors proportion and led the Stars to the West finals in three straight years. The Stars misplaced to Vegas in 2023 and to Edmonton the previous two seasons.
Of their Sport 5 elimination by the Oilers in Could, DeBoer pulled Jake Oettinger after the beginning goalie gave up two objectives within the first 7:09 of the sport, and later called him out for the staff’s lack of success in opposition to Edmonton.
Nill referred to as that state of affairs a “part” of his choice to fireside DeBoer, who had another 12 months left on his contract, however mentioned “issues that befell through the season” additionally factored into it.
The GM mentioned that the staff’s assistant coaches had “carried out an amazing job” and that he hoped they’d proceed to be a part of the Stars. Gulutzan, nonetheless, should herald new staffers after Steve Spott left for the Boston Bruins and Misha Donskov took a task with Hockey Canada.
Assistant coaches Alain Nasreddine and Jeff Reese will return subsequent season, nonetheless, Nill mentioned lately.