Just a week after the Dallas Stars were eliminated from the Western Conference Final by the Edmonton Oilers for the second consecutive season, general manager Jim Nill informed head coach Pete DeBoer that the club was moving in a new direction and no longer needed his services.
DeBoer had served as the Stars’ head coach for the last three seasons and led Dallas to a berth in the final four each time. However, the Stars couldn’t advance to the Stanley Cup Final, and DeBoer may have officially worn out his welcome with his public shaming of goaltender Jake Oettinger.
Best Candidates for Dallas Stars Head Coaching Vacancy
#1. Jay Woodcroft
Jay Woodcroft is perhaps the most viable candidate for the Stars to consider to take over behind the bench. He has plenty of head coaching experience under his belt after having served in that position with the Edmonton Oilers for two and a half seasons.
During his time in Edmonton, he put together a record of 79-41-13. After having worked with star players like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl during his stint with the Oilers, Woodcroft should be able to work with Dallas’s star players like Mikko Rantanen and Wyatt Johnston.
#2. Gerard Gallant
As the former head coach of the Vegas Golden Knights and New York Rangers, Gallant has extensive experience behind the bench and is highly regarded for his tactical and no-nonsense approach to the game. He is also a solid former NHL player.
Gallant led the expansion Vegas Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Final in 2018 in their first-ever season, and his firing in 2020 stunned fans and analysts alike. He then led the Rangers to an appearance in the Eastern Conference Final in 2022, but after a first-round loss to the New Jersey Devils in 2023, he and the team mutually agreed to part ways. He has a career head coaching record of 369-262-4-70.
#3. Peter Laviolette
Another veteran head coach who was also recently with the New York Rangers, Laviolette, is the winningest American-born head coach in NHL history. He won the Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006 and led both the Philadelphia Flyers and Nashville Predators to an appearance in the Stanley Cup Final in 2010 and 2017, respectively.
He’s a tough and demanding coach known for getting a lot out of his players during his coaching stints, and despite how things have ended with the previous teams he’s coached, his championship experience cannot be denied.