The Stars fired Pete DeBoer. Here is what I know right now and some other quick thoughts.

The Stars will have a new head coach when they try to get over the hump next season.

This was a really inconvenient day for me for the Dallas Stars to fire their head coach.

Well I guess, technically, it was more inconvenient for Pete DeBoer.

I was getting ready for my son’s preschool graduation when I got a heads up that an announcement was coming soon, and then that announcement landed in my inbox right before the actual graduation ceremony.

Since that announcement, and celebrating my 4-year-old son with cake and pizza, here is some of what I’ve been able to gather and some thoughts on where things go from here with the Stars.

First a quick timeline.

The Stars lost to the Edmonton Oilers in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final last Thursday. In that game DeBoer pulled his starting goalie Jake Oettinger after the goalie allowed two goals on two shots, and did so in dramatic fashion during a timeout, before doubling down on his decision after the game.

After that loss Stars owner Tom Gaglardi told the Dallas Morning News that in his view, at that time, firing DeBoer wouldn’t make much sense and the coach was one of the top coaches in the NHL.

Then the Stars had a day to cool off after losing Game 5 and held exit interviews on Saturday. Players met with management, players and DeBoer also addressed the media, where we learned that since the pull, the Stars head coach had not yet had the time to speak with Oettinger.

To me, that was one of the most damning things, which I wrote about in D Magazine earlier this week.

Make no mistake, the 26-year-old is a professional. He won’t poison the water for DeBoer of his own accord. But there is a very real chance the coach just lost one of his most important allies heading into the final year of his contract, when he’ll be fighting to secure his own future in Dallas.

Maybe DeBoer was right to pull Oettinger. Maybe he wasn’t. But if someone else is coaching the Stars in 2027, the decision to change goalies won’t play a part in why. Everything DeBoer has done afterward might.

Around the same time we also started to see some smoke come out Stars camps.

There were reports that players were unhappy with DeBoer’s decisions and how he handled things.

I’ve since learned that Oettinger wasn’t the pushing any buttons to remover DeBoer, but his teammates looked at his public in-game crucification as a rallying point. Taking the shot at Oettinger and not taking the time to talk with him, opened up the floodgates for others to air their grievances.

It created a space where Stars GM Jim Nill was now in a spot to do something he’s never done during his time in Dallas — think about firing a coach for hockey-related reasons¹.

Nill and Gaglardi met to discuss this on Wednesday, a meeting that we can assume tackled the question of “can Pete DeBoer win a Stanley Cup?”

And on Friday morning, we learned there answer.

“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 in the press release. “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.”

A coach getting fired tends to loosen lips for sources. So I want to tread carefully here, but there were multiple people familiar with the Stars coaching staff situation that opened up a bit after the move was made official.

DeBoer is a good coach, let’s not mince words there, but he’s a very stubborn one who wants things done his way. Steve Spott, who I assume will also be let go, is his “yes, man,” that has made a career out of helping DeBoer connect with other members of the staff.

DeBoer takes ideas from those he respects, but the problem is he often takes longer to develop that respect, and sometimes there’s even questions of how someone can earn his respect in the first place.

This can work to an extent and it’s why the Stars have been successful the past three seasons, but it’s also the reason that DeBoer can be exposed under the microscope. When the entire world is watching, and you are the smartest person in the room, it would probably help to listen to some additional opinions to help yourself.

Again, it’s easy for people to take potshots at a coach on the way out, but it’s also something that has bubbled under the surface and is reflective of DeBoer’s shelf life at other stops in his NHL career.

DeBoer is very similar to a task master manager in soccer, someone who can win and drive a team to the next step, but might not have the staying power because of his abrasiveness and how he wears on teams.

The question, which Nill will start addressing this afternoon in a press conference, is where do the Stars go from here.

There aren’t many “veteran” coaches that don’t fit the same profile as DeBoer. Gerard Gallant, for example, is just DeBoer in different skin, a veteran and abrasive coach that tends to have a shelf life.

The Stars also have a promising young coach in the AHL right now with Neil Graham, who currently has the Texas Stars in the Western Conference Final, but Graham has never coached an NHL game, even as an assistant, and doesn’t fit the “experience” profile that Gaglardi might want for a team that is still a legit Stanley Cup contender.

My first thought goes to Karl Taylor, currently the AHL coach for the Milwaukee Admirals, who is similar to Graham, but also doesn’t have NHL experience.

Former Dallas Stars coach Glen Gulutzan should also be considered. Gulutzan has been one of the NHL’s best assistants the past couple seasons and has helped eliminate the Stars in back-to-back years with the Edmonton Oilers.

Someone from the coaching world immediately texted me Friday morning banging the table for Gulutzan.

Current Stars assistant coach Alain Nasreddine could also get an interview.

The Stars should also at least call David Carle at the University of Denver, as any NHL team should do if they have an opening.

Either way, it’s a big decision for Dallas. Let’s see what we learn from Nill later and then we’ll have more covering the coaching change here at Shap Shots.

1. Remember every other coach either had their contract expire, they “retired,” or were fired for off-ice issues.