Glen Gulutzan Returns to the Dallas Stars as Head Coach
The Dallas Stars have announced the return of Glen Gulutzan as their head coach, marking his return to the team after 12 years since he was fired.
Gulutzan, who served as an assistant coach with the Edmonton Oilers, will take the place of Pete DeBoer, who was fired by the Stars earlier this month after three seasons. An official announcement from the team is expected shortly.
The 53-year-old coach led the Stars from 2011 to 2013, with a record of 64-57-9, failing to qualify for the playoffs in either season. He had been hired to replace Marc Crawford, after having coached the Stars’ AHL affiliate for two seasons and the Las Vegas Wranglers of the ECHL for six seasons.
Two weeks after hiring him in 2013, current general manager Jim Nill fired Gulutzan, stating that the team decided to “take a different direction” with the coaching staff. Dallas then replaced Gulutzan with experienced coach Lindy Ruff.
Twelve years later, Nill has rehired Gulutzan as their head coach, hoping he can lead the team to the Stanley Cup.
After being fired by Dallas, Gulutzan became an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks under John Tortorella and Willie Desjardins, before being hired by the Calgary Flames in 2016 as head coach. He remained there for two seasons, reaching the playoffs once, before being replaced by Bill Peters.
Then he became an assistant coach with the Oilers for seven seasons under four different head coaches. Gulutzan had a good relationship with star center Connor McDavid and ran the team’s power play, which was No. 1 in the NHL (26.8% conversion rate) during his time in Edmonton.
Gulutzan inherits a talented roster that has been conference runner-up for three consecutive seasons. This includes star winger Mikko Rantanen, whom they acquired at the trade deadline and signed to an eight-year, $96 million extension.
Dallas began searching for a new coach after firing DeBoer, who recorded a regular season points percentage of .665 and led the Stars to the Western Conference Finals in three consecutive years. The Stars lost to Vegas in 2023 and then to Edmonton in the following two seasons.
In his elimination in Game 5 against the Oilers in May, DeBoer pulled starting goalie Jake Oettinger after conceding two goals in the first 7:09 of the game, subsequently criticizing Oettinger for the team’s lack of success against Edmonton.
Nill described that situation as a “component” of his decision to fire DeBoer, who had one year left on his contract, but that there were “things that happened during the season” that influenced it.
Nill said his assistant coaches “had done a great job” and he hoped they would remain part of the Stars. However, Gulutzan will have to bring in new staff after assistant coach Steve Spott left for the Boston Bruins and coach Misha Donskov took on a role with Hockey Canada.
Nill recently said that assistant coaches Alain Nasreddine and Jeff Reese will return next season.
