The Dallas Stars front office crossed off a big one on the offseason checklist. Peter DeBoer is the new Head Coach of the Stars. He has the potential to provide a spark the offense desperately needs. His experience coaching multiple teams to the Stanley Cup Final can bring the Stars to the elite team status they are capable of. This offseason is already fast-paced and the best is still yet to come.
Career
The Stars are DeBoer’s 5th NHL team behind the bench. He already has experience with the Florida Panthers, New Jersey Devils, San Jose Sharks, and Vegas Golden Knights. He brought the 2012 Devils and 2016 Sharks to the Stanley Cup Final, both ending in losses. He is looking for his first Stanley Cup.
Continued Offseason
DeBoer will have a much different team in 2022 than Rick Bowness did. The Stars have over $19 million in available cap space to play with during the offseason. Jason Robertson, Jake Oettinger, and John Klingberg are not contracted. That $19 million starts going down with re-signings. Robertson and Oettinger are RFAs and not staying on the Stars is a ludicrous scenario.
Getting DeBoer as Head Coach during this time was essential. Jim Nill already has a busy offseason so this hiring gets an important decision out of the way. Free Agent Frenzy will hit hard for the Stars and expect fireworks when it does.
Free Agent Frenzy
The 2023 Stars are already starting to take form. Re-signing Robertson and Oettinger is now the #1 priority. There still is more money left over after that. Some important roster spots are open for an area where the Stars struggled last season. The depth scoring didn’t provide the goals necessary to get past Round 1 Game 7. A few more offensive forwards are all that the Stars need.
DeBoer has the potential to take a struggling offensive team like the Stars and turn them into one of the best. The team didn’t live up to the potential of last season’s talent. Game 7 overtime could have gone either way. DeBoer begins his tenure in October as the 10th Head Coach in team history since moving to Dallas.
