The Dallas Stars are among the National Hockey League’s elite, making it to the Western Conference Finals for the last three seasons. However, after their third consecutive run to the conference finals, the Stars fired head coach Pete Deboer following the conclusion of the 2025 postseason. On one hand, firing a coach with three deep playoff runs in three seasons seems insane, since a record like this would be something other franchises in the league would kill for. On the other hand, Deboer’s standing with the team may have suffered greatly following his controversial choice to pull franchise goalie Jake Oettinger during their elimination game against the Edmonton Oilers. Now, with a new coach, a slightly tweaked roster and mounting expectations, the Stars are more than capable of bringing home the Stanley Cup.
The Stars hired Glen Gulutzan to fill the head coaching vacancy. Gulutzan spent the last seven seasons as assistant coach for the Edmonton Oilers, who made it to the Stanley Cup Finals for the past two seasons. This is actually Gulutzan’s second stint as head coach of the Stars, a position he filled from 2011-2013. Hiring a retread was interesting, especially considering that his first go-around was not very successful — Dallas missed the playoffs in both of Gulutzan’s seasons as coach. In his defense, however, the team at the time was significantly less talented than the current roster. Gulutzan has said that making any significant changes to the way the team plays would be foolish but has placed an emphasis on being more physical, something the Stars were criticized for not doing under Deboer’s lead.
As in years past, the Stars forward group looks to be among the league’s best. There were two notable departures from the group: winger Mason Marchment was traded to the Seattle Kraken for draft compensation and winger Mikael Granlund, who the Stars acquired at the trade deadline, left for the San Jose Sharks. Last year’s major deadline acquisition, winger Mikko Rantanen, broke out in the playoffs after a relatively slow start to his Stars tenure with 22 points in 18 games. Rantanen will be accompanied on the top line by star winger Jason Robertson and fellow Finn, Roope Hintz.
Robertson in particular is primed for a big season. Following a sluggish start to the 2024-2025 campaign due to an offseason hampered by rehab from foot surgery, Robertson’s production exploded after the Christmas break, scoring the second most goals and the fourth most points in that time frame. Center Wyatt Johnston looks to build on his extremely successful start to his career, with back-to-back 30 goal campaigns in his last two seasons. Newly re-signed center Matt Duchene led the Stars in points last season, and long-time Stars’ alternate captain Tyler Seguin will look to add veteran leadership and scoring to a very deep team. Young center Mavrik Bourque and veteran center Sam Steele will look to step into larger roles after the departures of Marchment and Granlund. The bottom line will feature wingers Colin Blackwell — who scored an overtime winner for Dallas last postseason — and Oskar Back, centered by free agent signing Radek Faksa, who played for the Stars from 2012 to 2024.
Notably, the team will be without their longtime captain, Jamie Benn, for at least a month due to a punctured lung he suffered during a preseason game versus the Minnesota Wild on Sept. 23. Benn is expected to make a full recovery and will slot into a bottom six role upon his return.
The defense core is very solid in Dallas. Star defenseman Miro Heskanien missed a large chunk of the regular and postseason due to knee surgery, but when in top form, Heskanien is a top 10 defenseman in the entire NHL. During Heskanien’s absence, defenseman Thomas Harley broke out as one of the best offensive-minded defensemen in the league. Shutdown defenseman Esa Lindell and the massive Lian Bichsel round out the team’s left-side defense. The right-side defense is a different story. The team will rely on defensemen Nils Lundkvist and Iyla Lybushkin for this. Heiskanen will also likely play significant minutes on the right side, which he has shown to be very proficient at despite being a left shot.
The final aspect of the team to consider is the goalie room. The previously mentioned Oettinger has solidified himself as a top 10 goalie in the league and has a reputation of being a top tier playoff performer, although he has not been at his best in the conference finals. In the first and second rounds of the playoffs, Oettinger has an amazing .922 save percentage across 46 starts. In 17 conference finals starts, he has a poor .880 save percentage. Part of this has to do with poor defense in front of him at times, it is also possible Oettinger burns out after starting for a large chunk of the season. Back-up Casey Desmith had a very good year for Dallas last season as Oettinger’s backup, allowing the same goals against average, 2.59, as Oettinger in 27 starts.
The Dallas Stars certainly deserve your viewership this upcoming season — I predict them to have another great season and another deep playoff run. They have star talent across the board, the deepest overall roster in the Western Conference and an elite goalie. I would be very confident in another conference finals appearance, but that is not enough. They must claim the ultimate prize. Veterans like Benn, Seguin and Duchene are running out of time. Meanwhile, there are young players like Robertson and Harley that will require big new contracts soon and it may not be possible to keep the roster as deep as it is. Teams that almost make it are never remembered. It’s time to bring the Stanley Cup back to Dallas.