Latest news with #JimNill
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Signing Mitch Marner Will Not Answer All Of Dallas' Prayers
The Dallas Stars have gotten off to a fast start to their offseason. Following the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Final. Following a trade that sent Mason Marchment to Seattle in exchange for draft picks, they then signed Mavrik Bourque and Nils Lundkvist to contract extensions. While General Manager JIm Nill sits and ponders his next move, rumors are beginning to swirl that Mitch Marner can be on the Stars' radar come free agency. Mitch Marner is going into the summer with a chance to change the scenery and price of his contract. The 28-yr old is hitting the free agent market after previously playing nine seasons in Toronto. While Marner is very skilled at scoring, his main advantage has been sharing the ice with even more skilled players such as Auston Matthews and William Nylander. The Stars do boast some scorers in their lineup as well, but none of them were able to reach the 85-point threshold. Stars Sign Kole Lind to Two-Way Deal Stars Sign Kole Lind to Two-Way Deal The Dallas Stars have announced that they signed Kole Lind to a one-year, two-way contract extension. Advertisement Mitch Marner does look like an enticing addition to any NHL team who wishes to bolster their scoring, yet the Stars would do well not to go all in on the winger thinking that he is the answer to all their problem. The big hole lurking in the Stars' roster is that they do not have a top scorer. Mikko Rantanen proved in the Stanley Cup Playoffs that he is highly serviceable, yet fizzled out during the second round. Besides the fact that Dallas does not currently have the necessary cap space to even facilitate a high level signing such as Marner, one thing they surely do not need is another secondary scorer. It is yet to be determined whether the Ontario native can carry a team for 82 games, plus the playoffs. As the July 1st free agent period draws nearer, the Dallas Stars will also continue their search for a new head coach after parting ways with Pete DeBoer following a disastrous end to their playoff journey. The Dallas Stars were also recently voted the most favorable destination by all incoming draft picks. The NHL Draft takes place in Los Angeles on June 28th. Follow all of Adam Denker's work on X: denkyd8nk
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Gulutzan says the Stars were right not keeping him as coach 12 years ago, and now bringing him back
FILE - Dallas Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan, center, during the first period of an NHL Hockey game against the St. Louis Blues, April 7, 2012, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade, file) DALLAS (AP) — Glen Gulutzan believes the Dallas Stars have twice made the right decision about his coaching career, first not keeping him as their head coach 12 years ago and now bringing him back in that same role. The Stars reintroduced Gulutzan as their coach Wednesday, with he and the franchise both in much different places than back then. One of Jim Nill's first decisions after becoming general manager in 2013 was to make a coaching change after spending a couple of weeks talking with Gulutzan about the players he had for two seasons in his first NHL job. Advertisement 'There was a little bit of a relationship formed. Now our last meeting was, `Hey, I'm not going to renew you, and hand in your keys',' Gulutzan said Wednesday when sitting next to Nill, who is still the Dallas GM. 'At the end of the day, Jim was right. This is a league where you've got to get some wounds on you, some scars. ... You've got to gain experience.' Gulutzan, who turns 54 next month, has that after coaching with three different teams in Canada. He was an assistant the past seven seasons with Edmonton, including the last two making the Stanley Cup Final after beating Dallas for the Western Conference title, after two seasons as Calgary's head coach and a stint as a Vancouver assistant. 'I'm kind of piecing it together a little bit, so 12 years ago Jim actually sent me on a reconnaissance mission, and that was up through Western Canada," Gulutzan said with a smile. 'He didn't tell me until about a week ago that he was bringing me back.' Not only was Gulutzan a first-time NHL head coach when hired by the Stars in 2011, that was when the franchise was going through bankruptcy and an ownership change, and basically run by the league. Advertisement Gulutzan's two seasons wrapped up a franchise-long streak of five consecutive missed playoffs before Lindy Ruff took the Stars back. They had been in the postseason 10 of 11 seasons before that, including their only Stanley Cup title in 1999 and another Western Conference championship this next year under Ken Hitchcock, the only other person to have two stints as Dallas' head coach. The current Stars are coming off three consecutive seasons that ended in the West final, and six playoff appearances in seven years with a Stanley Cup Final appearance in the Canadian bubble during the COVID-impacted 2020 playoffs. When Nill decided in the wake of the latest playoff loss to fire Pete DeBoer after three seasons, the GM said he interviewed numerous coaches at all levels. His process kept coming back to the coach he didn't keep in 2013. 'Speaking with people he worked with, he worked for, all I ever heard about is he'll go through the wall for you. He's organized, he's professional, he cares about people," Nill said. 'His resume and experience over the years have prepared him for this opportunity. ... It's one thing to have success, but you've got to go through tough times. Everybody does. And it's those tough times when you find out who you are, and that's what Glen has done." Advertisement There were also opportunities to work with coaches like John Tortorella, Hitchcock, Dave Tippett and Kris Knoblauch. Gulutzan was 64-57-9 with the Stars from 2011-13, then went to Vancouver before an 82-68-14 record as head coach of the Flames from 2016-18. He then joined the Oilers staff, and was part of 79 playoff games over the past five years. The only player still with the Stars from Gulutzan's first tenure is captain Jamie Benn, who recently signed a contract to return for a 17th season. Nill met with Gulutzan a few days after Edmonton's season ended with a Game 6 loss to Florida in the Stanley Cup Final. Advertisement 'I was so impressed for a guy that was devastated after you lose, how he conducted himself, how we spoke about situations,' Nill said. 'The job resume when you're a head coach in the NHL is X's and O's. It's strategies, it's game plans. We all know that, but ultimately in the end, character matters.' It was still a bit surreal for Gulutzan to be back in the Stars' home arena, where he was a first-time NHL head coach in his early 40s, and only about six weeks after being in the opposing locker room following Edmonton's loss in Game 1 of the West Final. 'I was on the other side cursing the team out when they beat us in Game 1, and now I'm sitting here,' he said. 'But for me, it still feels like home. So it's an easy adjustment.' ___ AP NHL:
Associated Press
02-07-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Gulutzan says the Stars were right not keeping him as coach 12 years ago, and now bringing him back
DALLAS (AP) — Glen Gulutzan believes the Dallas Stars have twice made the right decision about his coaching career, first not keeping him as their head coach 12 years ago and now bringing him back in that same role. The Stars reintroduced Gulutzan as their coach Wednesday, with he and the franchise both in much different places than back then. One of Jim Nill's first decisions after becoming general manager in 2013 was to make a coaching change after spending a couple of weeks talking with Gulutzan about the players he had for two seasons in his first NHL job. 'There was a little bit of a relationship formed. Now our last meeting was, `Hey, I'm not going to renew you, and hand in your keys',' Gulutzan said Wednesday when sitting next to Nill, who is still the Dallas GM. 'At the end of the day, Jim was right. This is a league where you've got to get some wounds on you, some scars. ... You've got to gain experience.' Gulutzan, who turns 54 next month, has that after coaching with three different teams in Canada. He was an assistant the past seven seasons with Edmonton, including the last two making the Stanley Cup Final after beating Dallas for the Western Conference title, after two seasons as Calgary's head coach and a stint as a Vancouver assistant. 'I'm kind of piecing it together a little bit, so 12 years ago Jim actually sent me on a reconnaissance mission, and that was up through Western Canada,' Gulutzan said with a smile. 'He didn't tell me until about a week ago that he was bringing me back.' Not only was Gulutzan a first-time NHL head coach when hired by the Stars in 2011, that was when the franchise was going through bankruptcy and an ownership change, and basically run by the league. Gulutzan's two seasons wrapped up a franchise-long streak of five consecutive missed playoffs before Lindy Ruff took the Stars back. They had been in the postseason 10 of 11 seasons before that, including their only Stanley Cup title in 1999 and another Western Conference championship this next year under Ken Hitchcock, the only other person to have two stints as Dallas' head coach. The current Stars are coming off three consecutive seasons that ended in the West final, and six playoff appearances in seven years with a Stanley Cup Final appearance in the Canadian bubble during the COVID-impacted 2020 playoffs. When Nill decided in the wake of the latest playoff loss to fire Pete DeBoer after three seasons, the GM said he interviewed numerous coaches at all levels. His process kept coming back to the coach he didn't keep in 2013. 'Speaking with people he worked with, he worked for, all I ever heard about is he'll go through the wall for you. He's organized, he's professional, he cares about people,' Nill said. 'His resume and experience over the years have prepared him for this opportunity. ... It's one thing to have success, but you've got to go through tough times. Everybody does. And it's those tough times when you find out who you are, and that's what Glen has done.' There were also opportunities to work with coaches like John Tortorella, Hitchcock, Dave Tippett and Kris Knoblauch. Gulutzan was 64-57-9 with the Stars from 2011-13, then went to Vancouver before an 82-68-14 record as head coach of the Flames from 2016-18. He then joined the Oilers staff, and was part of 79 playoff games over the past five years. The only player still with the Stars from Gulutzan's first tenure is captain Jamie Benn, who recently signed a contract to return for a 17th season. Nill met with Gulutzan a few days after Edmonton's season ended with a Game 6 loss to Florida in the Stanley Cup Final. 'I was so impressed for a guy that was devastated after you lose, how he conducted himself, how we spoke about situations,' Nill said. 'The job resume when you're a head coach in the NHL is X's and O's. It's strategies, it's game plans. We all know that, but ultimately in the end, character matters.' It was still a bit surreal for Gulutzan to be back in the Stars' home arena, where he was a first-time NHL head coach in his early 40s, and only about six weeks after being in the opposing locker room following Edmonton's loss in Game 1 of the West Final. 'I was on the other side cursing the team out when they beat us in Game 1, and now I'm sitting here,' he said. 'But for me, it still feels like home. So it's an easy adjustment.' ___ AP NHL:
CBC
01-07-2025
- Sport
- CBC
Stars hire Oilers assistant Glen Gulutzan as head coach, his 2nd stint with the team
The Dallas Stars have hired Glen Gulutzan as their head coach 12 years after he was fired from his first stint with them. General manager Jim Nill announced the move Tuesday, with Gulutzan succeeding Peter DeBoer, who was fired following the team's playoff elimination in the Western Conference final. Back in 2013, firing Gulutzan was one of Nill's first act when he took over. Gulutzan, who turns 54 in August, returns to Dallas after spending the past seven seasons as an assistant with the Edmonton Oilers, including the past two that ended with trips to the Stanley Cup final. This is his third job in charge of an NHL team after leading the Stars from 2011-13 and the Calgary Flames from 2016-18.
USA Today
01-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Dallas Stars hire Glen Gulutzan for second stint as head coach
The Dallas Stars are turning to a name from their past to lead the team into the future. The Stars announced on Tuesday, July 1 that they have hired Glen Gulutzan as their next head coach. He was the Stars' coach during the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons and was fired after missing the playoffs in both seasons. But he most recently was an Edmonton Oilers assistant coach since 2018-19, running their highly successful power play that featured Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. The Oilers have reached the Stanley Cup Final the past two seasons, knocking off the Stars in the Western Conference both times. "Since his previous time in Dallas, Glen has worked tirelessly to establish himself as one of the most respected coaches in the NHL," general manager Jim Nill said. "His extensive NHL experience, both as a head coach and assistant coach, speaks to his ability to innovate and adapt to the modern game, as well as build relationships with his players. Glen has worked with some of the best players in the world and continually found ways to maximize their skill sets to contribute to team success. We have full confidence that he is the right person to elevate our team to the next level." Gulutzan, 53, replaces Peter DeBoer, who was fired on June 6 after the Stars' third consecutive ouster in the conference finals. DeBoer had pulled No. 1 goalie Jake Oettinger in the elimination game after he gave up two goals and said it was because the "status quo had not been working." General manager Jim Nill said those comments were a component of his decision to fire DeBoer but not the only reason. Between Gulutzan's stints with the Stars and the Oilers, he was an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks and head coach of the Calgary Flames. He has a 146-125-23 record as a head coach, with one playoff appearance in which the Flames were swept.
