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NHL Opinion

Dallas Stars Had No Choice To Move On From Pete DeBoer

Jim Biringer 06/09/2025
6 Min Read
The Dallas Stars are moving on from head coach Pete DeBoer as the team had no choice and could not have tension entering this season.
Apr 3, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Stars head coach Pete DeBoer looks on during the first period against the Nashville Predators at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
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Last week, the Dallas Stars made a coaching change, as General Manager Jim Nill announced that he had fired Pete DeBoer, who had a season left on his contract. While the Stars’ GM did not want to get into specifics, he felt that a change of direction was needed to get the team over the hump that had kept them out of the Western Conference Final for three seasons in a row.

“After careful consideration, we believe that a new voice is needed in our locker room to push us closer to our goal of winning the Stanley Cup,” Nill said. “We’d like to thank Pete for everything that he has helped our organization achieve over the past three seasons and wish him nothing but the best moving forward.”

NHL Rumors: Is Pete DeBoer’s Time Winding Down with the Dallas Stars?

As Nill told the media in attendance at his press conference after firing DeBoer as the head coach, it was a difficult decision to make this type of move, given the team’s success over the last couple of seasons. While the decision surrounding the pull of Jake Oettinger in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final was the ultimate nail in the coffin for DeBoer, his comments following the game did not help his cause.

“The reality is, if you go back to last year’s playoffs, he’s lost six of seven games to Edmonton and we gave up two (goals) on two (shots) in an elimination game,” DeBoer said of Oettinger. “It was partly to spark our team and wake them up and partly knowing that status quo had not been working. And that’s a pretty big sample size.”

And before DeBoer was fired by the Stars, he double downed during the year end media availability stating their was room for growth in Oettinger’s game.

“No one is a bigger fan of Jake Oettinger than me, as a person or a goalie,” DeBoer said when the Stars held their end-of-season media availability. “Does that mean he can’t be coached or he doesn’t have growth in him? Absolutely , he’s a young goalie.”

NHL Rumors: Is Pete DeBoer’s Time Winding Down with the Dallas Stars?

As NHLRumors.com has been reporting, the players have not been happy with Pete DeBoer recently. There had been rumblings coming out of the final media availability that players were looking for a change of direction. More specifically, were not happy with the way things went down with Oettinger. Even though Nill stated he was ok with the pull of Oettinger in Game 5, those comments following the game were an issue, as he have signed Oettinger to an eight-year contract extension.

“I think everybody did,” Nill said during his press conference on Friday. “I think even Pete was remorseful of it a little bit. I don’t think he handled that the way he wanted to. But you have to remember you’re under the duress of everything going on in that.”

Again, it was not an easy decision for the Stars to fire a coach who had a record of 149-68-29 over the past three seasons for a league-best .665 points percentage during the regular season. Over those three years, DeBoer’s teams won six playoff series, defeating the Colorado Avalanche twice, Vegas Golden Knights and the Winnipeg Jets once. They lost to the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Final each of the last two seasons.

NHL Rumors: Dallas Stars, and the Ottawa Senators

Not to mention, Pete DeBoer is 0-2 in the Stanley Cup Final and 2-6 in eight trips to the Western Conference Final. Everything from this season hit a boiling point. If you look at how the team played down the stretch, the Stars road a seven-game losing streak into the playoffs. It became eight straight after the Game 1 loss to Colorado in Round 1. However, you could see the signs were there that things were breaking down which led to the coaching change.

In addition, it is not the best of look to bring back a coach back who has tension with the franchise goalie. It does not make for a great work environment. Just look at the Winnipeg Jets. They chose their head coach Rick Bowness at time the time over an aging player in Blake Wheeler. Here, the Stars could not afford to trade a franchise goalie and keep Pete DeBoer.

There will be a lot of work for Jim Nill and Dallas Stars to do this offseason as they look to get back to this point next season and get back to a Stanley Cup Final.

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TAGGED:Dallas StarsJake OettingerJim NillPete DeBoer

Offer Sheet Compensation

<$1.54M no comp
$1.54M – $2.34M: 3rd
$2.34M – $4.68M: 2nd
$4.68M – $7.02M: 1st, 3rd
$7.02M – $9.36M: 1st, 2nd, 3rd
$9.36M – $11.7M: 1st, 1st, 2nd, 3rd
$11.7M+: 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st,

2024-25 Critical Dates

June 1-7: NHL Scouting Combine (Buffalo, NY)
June 20th: Last possible day for the Stanley Cup Final
June 27th-28th: 2025 NHL Draft
July 1st: Start of free agency

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