Stars Hire Glen Gulutzan as HC to Replace Pete DeBoer After 2025 NHL Playoff Loss

Glen Gulutzan will be tasked with finally getting the Dallas Stars past the Western Conference Final in his second stint as head coach of the team.

The Stars announced Gulutzan's hiring on Tuesday after dismissing former head coach Pete DeBoer in June.

Gulutzan previously led the Stars' AHL affiliate to two Calder Cup Playoff appearances before he was promoted to the NHL in 2011.

He coached the Stars to a 64-57-9 overall record over two seasons with no playoff appearances before he was fired in 2013.

Gulutzan then served as head coach of the Calgary Flames, which he coached to an 82-68-14 record and a first-round appearance between 2016 and 2018, before joining the Edmonton Oilers as an assistant coach for the last seven seasons.

“Since his previous time in Dallas, Glen has worked tirelessly to establish himself as one of the most respected coaches in the NHL," Stars general manager Jim Nill said in a statement.

The Stars also announced that assistant coach Alain Nasreddine, goaltending coach Jeff Reese, head video coach Patrick Dolan and assistant video coach Chris Demczuk would return as members of Gulutzan's staff.

DeBoer led the Stars to a 149-68-29 regular-season record and three conference finals appearances during his three years in Dallas.

But the former Vegas Golden Knights and San Jose Sharks coach was never able to get Dallas as far as the Stanley Cup Final.

Despite loading up with the addition of Mikko Rantanen at the 2025 trade deadline, the Stars were eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers for a second straight season in Game 5 of the 2025 Western Conference Final.

The Stars announced DeBoer's dismissal eight days after his team's elimination, reportedly in part because of what the Star-Telegram's Mac Engel described as "strain" between the former coach and his players.

DeBoer pulled starting netminder Jake Oettinger twice in the conference finals, including early in the elimination Game 5. The head coach told reporters two days later he hadn't yet spoken to Oettinger about that decision.

"I didn't take that lightly, and I didn't blame it all on Jake," DeBoer told reporters about pulling Oettinger. "But the reality is, if you go back to last year's playoffs, he's lost six of seven games to Edmonton."

Oettinger is heading into the first year of an eight-year contract extension worth an average annual value of $8.25 million.

The Stars will now look for Gulutzan to build a stronger relationship with a player who will serve as a key piece of Dallas' next title push. Nill complimented Gulutzan's ability to "build relationships with his players" in the statement announcing his hiring.

With key players like Oettinger, Rantanen, Roope Hintz, Wyatt Johnston, Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell signed to long-term deals, the core the Stars are hoping will lead this franchise to its first championship since 1999 is already in place.

Nill will now look for Gulutzan to help those players compete for a Stanley Cup next spring.