The Dallas Stars are one of several NHL teams who will have a new head coach behind the bench in the 2022/23 NHL season.
Formerly of the Vegas Golden Knights, Peter DeBoer has replaced Rich Bowness as coach of the Stars and he will expect to at least continue his excellent record of qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs with his new team this season.
The 54-year-old DeBoer has led the team he has coached to the Stanley Cup playoffs in seven of the past ten seasons, reaching the Final with the New Jersey Devils in 2012 and San Jose Sharks in 2016.
Over the past three years he has guided the Golden Knights to a 98-50-12 record, making the Western Conference Final in 2020 and the Stanley Cup semi-finals in 2021.
His overall coaching record in the NHL is a winning one, going 513-379-123 over 14 seasons with the Golden Knights, Sharks, Devils and Florida Panthers. In the playoffs he is 68-55 and, after claiming the first wildcard spot last season, the minimum expectation for the Stars will be to reach the post-season again under DeBoer's leadership.
Dallas went 46-30-6 last season before they were narrowly edged out of the playoffs in seven games by the Calgary Flames.
The Stars enjoyed a strong offensive contribution from their top forward line last season, but lacked secondary scoring and that hurt them in the playoffs.
Joe Pavelski, who played under DeBoer in San Jose, led the team with 81 points (27 goals, 54 assists) in 82 games, Jason Robertson was second with 79 points (41 goals, 38 assists) in 74 games, and Roope Hintz was third with 72 points (37 goals, 35 assists) in 80 games.
After that, however, there was a steep drop in production with Tyler Seguin next on the list with 49 points (24 goals, 25 assists) in 81 games.
In general, Dallas averaged 2.84 goals per game last season (21st in the NHL) and DeBoer will look to re-ignite veterans Seguin and Jamie Benn particularly who had 46 points (18 goals, 28 assists) in 82 games.
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The Stars have also added Mason Marchment from the Florida Panthers on a four-year deal in an attempt to give their offence a boost. The 27-year-old scored a career high 47 points (18 goals, 29 assists) in 54 games helping the Panthers win the Presidents' Trophy.
Kilingberg exit
The 30-year-old defenceman John Klingberg left the Stars for the Anaheim Ducks following eight seasons in Dallas with the franchise unwilling to meet the length of contract requested.
The right-shooting Swede has been a mainstay on the Stars' blue-line eating up minutes both five-on-five and on the powerplay, amassing 374 points (71 goals, 303 assists) in 552 regular season games, 148 (19 goals) of which came on the man advantage.
His exit gives an opportunity to 23-year-old Miro Heiskanen who registered 36 points (five goals, 31 assists) in 70 regular season games last season and will take on the mantle as the team's number one defenceman in the new season.
Oettinger signs deal
One of the brightest young goalies in the NHL, 23-year-old Jake Oettinger has agreed a new three-year contract with the Stars in the off-season meaning they are well set in that position for next season and beyond.
Oettinger broke into the NHL in 2020/21 and has since made 77 regular season appearances (70 starts) with a 41-23-8 record, .913 save percentage and 2.46 goals-against-average.
In the playoffs last season, he was remarkable, holding one of the league's highest-scoring offences to 13 goals in seven games, a 1.81 GAA and .954 save-percentage.
He made 64 saves in a 3-2 Game 7 defeat to the Flames, giving the Stars every opportunity to win but their offence ultimately let the youngster down and will be DeBoer's key area of focus for the new season.
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