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Stars Fire Pete DeBoer

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The Stars announced Friday they’ve fired head coach Pete DeBoer. He had one year left on his contract worth roughly $4MM, Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News relayed yesterday. With no other head coaching vacancies after the Bruins filled theirs yesterday, they’ll be paying him to sit unless he lands a job with another club thanks to an in-season coaching change in 2025-26.

“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,” general manager Jim Nill said in a team 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.”

If DeBoer sits at home for the entirety of next season, it’ll be the first NHL campaign without him leading a team’s bench since he first entered the league as head coach of the Panthers in 2008. He’s been a fixture for nearly two decades, and for good reason. DeBoer-coached teams have made the playoffs nine out of the last 10 seasons, and he’s advanced to the third round in six straight postseason appearances.

Those clubs, including Dallas for the last three years, have lost every one of those six Conference Finals/Semi-Finals, though. That’s the impetus behind today’s coaching change as the Stars look to get over the hump, although they were likely pushed in this direction by the specific circumstances of how their season ended in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final against the Oilers.

DeBoer pulled star goaltender Jake Oettinger from the game after two defensive breakdowns led to a pair of early Edmonton goals, and continued to justify his decision postgame despite his offense going completely dark for most of the series. Dallas scored 11 times in the five-game loss, but six of those goals came in a Game 1 blowout. They averaged just 1.25 goals per game as they lost four straight to end their season.

His decision to remove Oettinger from the game reportedly caused a high degree of frustration within the organization. If the relationship between DeBoer and Oettinger was fractured beyond repair, moving on from the former was the slam-dunk decision. Oettinger, who will presumably finish top-10 in year-end All-Star voting for the third year in a row, signed an eight-year, $66MM extension last October that doesn’t kick in until next season.

Goaltending drama aside, moving on from DeBoer is arguably the most seismic coaching move of the offseason, along with the Penguins’ dismissal of Mike Sullivan. The Stars had a 149-68-29 (.665) record in his three seasons as head coach, the best record in the league since his hiring. While Dallas didn’t convert on any of its WCF appearances, their streak of three straight third-round showings tied the franchise record set from 1998 to 2000.

With his Stars tenure now behind him, DeBoer is up to 17th on the NHL coach all-time wins list with 662. The 56-year-old has an all-time regular-season record of 662-447-152 (.525) across stops in Florida, New Jersey, San Jose, Vegas, and Dallas and has advanced to the third round in eight of his 17 years as an NHL head coach.

It’s unclear what DeBoer’s firing means for the Stars’ assistant coaches, particularly Misha Donskov and Steve Spott. The two have worked closely with DeBoer over the last several years and followed him from Nevada to Texas. He had not previously overlapped with the Stars’ third assistant, Alain Nasreddine.

Image courtesy of Jerome Miron-Imagn Images.

Free Agent Focus: Dallas Stars

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Free agency is now under a month away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July, while many teams also have key restricted free agents to re-sign. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Stars.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Mavrik Bourque – The Stars don’t have many restricted free agents, but one forward they may want to retain long-term is Bourque. The 23-year-old Quebec native enjoyed a solid rookie showing in 2024-25, posting 11 goals and 24 points in a bottom-six role. However, while he suited up in 73 games during the regular season, he only saw action in three playoff contests, with no points to show for it. Still, the arrow seems to be pointing up for the team’s 2020 first-round selection. Bourque has excelled in the AHL, posting 47 goals and 129 points in 147 games for the Texas Stars, and has the potential to make an impact in the NHL. For a team with limited cap space, signing a young forward with high upside makes sense.

D Nils Lundkvist– For a team that has five defenders set to make more than $3MM next season, the Stars may not want to shell out much more cap space to blueliners. With that said, the team should have some interest in retaining Lundkvist, a former first-round selection of the New York Rangers. The 24-year-old skated in 39 games this past season, posting five assists, a plus-four rating, 34 blocked shots, and 23 hits. Although his offensive output declined from the 2023–24 season, in which he tallied 19 points and a plus-13 rating, Lundkvist saw an increase in average ice time, rising to 15:01 from 14:06 per game. With only six defensemen under contract for next season (excluding non-rostered players), re-signing Lundkvist could be a cost-effective option for the team’s third pairing.

Other RFAs: F Antonio Stranges, G Remi Poirier, G Benjamin Kraws

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Jamie Benn – The team’s most notable pending unrestricted free agent, at least from a nostalgic point of view, is longtime captain Jamie Benn. For the first time in his career, Benn is heading for the open market. Benn has played all 1,192 of his games in Dallas, and the soon-to-be 36-year-old ranks second only to franchise legend Mike Modano in several key categories, including games played, points, goals, and shots on goal. Benn also recently discussed his desire to re-sign with Dallas. This past season, Benn showed he can still be productive in a bottom-six role, finishing with a solid 16 goals and 49 points. And while the Stars may have a mutual desire to retain their captain, the issue now may be the team’s limited cap space. Should the team resign Benn or use this opportunity to get younger?

F Matt Duchene – Duchene showed last season that he can still perform at a high level, finishing with an impressive 30–52–82 stat line in 82 games. However, the well dried up for the 34-year-old in the playoffs, where he posted just one goal and six points in 18 games. That reality may leave a sour taste for GM Jim Nill and the front office as they consider whether to re-sign Duchene. Either way, Duchene’s strong regular season may generate enough interest on the open market to price him out of Dallas. He will certainly see a sizeable raise on his previous $3MM AAV deal.

F Evgenii Dadonov – Like Duchene, Dadonov is coming off a resurgent season that will likely lead to a pay raise in free agency. While he didn’t share the statistical success of Duchene, Dadonov posted 20 goals and 40 points on the year, his most points since the 2021-22 season. However, Dadonov also struggled in the playoffs, posting four points and a minus-three rating in 13 games. Still, 20-goal scorers don’t grow on trees and Dadonov is sure to draw interest from teams seeking depth scoring.

F Mikael Granlund – Perhaps no pending free agent’s market is harder to gauge than Granlund’s, who has been a wildly inconsistent contributor throughout his career. Still, he appeared to find instant success after being traded to Dallas last season, posting 21 points in 31 games. He finished the year with 66 points between San Jose and Dallas, his most since the 2017-18 season. He also posted a solid 10 points in 18 playoff games. The pass-first forward just turned 33 and may be seeking one more significant contract on the open market.

D Cody Ceci – One of the more unusual stats from the 2024–25 season was that Cody Ceci appeared in 85 regular season games — 54 with the Sharks and 31 with the Stars. He tallied 24 points overall, including nine assists during his time in Dallas. Ceci also logged a notable 20:14 of ice time per game with the Stars, a number that increased to 21:31 in the playoffs. The Stars are sure to have interest in retaining Ceci’s services, but the veteran of 871 career games will have plenty of suitors if he reaches the open market. Like Granlund, Ceci may be looking for one final large, multi-year agreement.

Other UFAs: D Brendan Smith, G Magnus Hellberg, F Colin Blackwell, F Cameron Hughes, F Kole Lind (UFA-Group6), F Emilio Pettersen (UFA-Group6), F Matej Blumel (UFA-Group6)

Projected Cap Space

Nill and the front office will have to get creative if they want to make any sort of waves in free agency, or even to simply retain a few of their pending free agents. According to PuckPedia, the team currently has just south of $5 million in cap space. With over $60 million committed to their top seven players, the team is top-heavy with contracts and faces tough decisions regarding the future of their pending free agents, including Benn.

Contract info courtesy of PuckPedia.

Re-Examining The Conference Finalists’ Trade Deadline Acquisitions

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The trade deadline is always an interesting time to reflect on with the benefit of hindsight. Several massive trades were made leading up to it, including two trades involving star forward Mikko Rantanen. With the playoffs down to just two teams, and a bit of a break coming, an opportunity has presented itself to re-examine the deadline and look back at some winners and losers, some two months later.

Looking back at the biggest deal between the Dallas Stars and Carolina Hurricanes, it is interesting in retrospect, given that both teams lost in their respective Conference Finals. The deal involved Rantanen going to Dallas in return for Logan Stankoven, a 2026 first-round pick, a 2026 third-round pick, a 2027 third-round pick, and a 2028 first-round pick. Rantanen was later signed to an eight-year $96MM contract extension by the Stars, and now it looks like an absolute win for Dallas. Rantanen had come as advertised, posting nine goals and 13 assists in 18 games during the NHL Playoffs, with no games bigger than Game 7 of the first round when the 28-year-old had a hat trick to knock out his former team, Colorado. The trade for Rantanen solidified the Stars’ forward group. It gave them another high-impact forward to position them as a top Stanley Cup contender for the foreseeable future.

It’s hard to call Carolina a loser in the deal, given the haul that they got for Rantanen. Still, looking at their roster, they certainly lacked a gamebreaker in these playoffs and could have used Rantanen in the Conference Finals. Carolina fans will wonder what could have been had Rantanen stuck around. Still, Carolina probably did the right thing by recouping assets for Rantanen rather than letting him walk for nothing.

Dallas addressed other key areas at the Trade Deadline by acquiring forward Mikael Granlund and defenseman Cody Ceci from the San Jose Sharks for a first-round pick and a conditional third-round pick in 2025. Granlund provided some offense, but his skating was an issue at times against some of the quicker Edmonton Oilers players, and defensive issues have also been a problem. Granlund did have five goals and five assists in 18 games during the playoffs, but that is off the offensive pace he set in the regular season, and he has benefited from good deployment and a solid PDO.

Ceci, on the other hand, hasn’t been great, as his underlying numbers are arguably the worst of any of the Stars’ regulars. Ceci’s acquisition was a bit of a headscratcher at the time, but Dallas has used him heavily (probably too much) in the playoffs, playing him over 21 minutes a night. Ceci had three assists in 18 games, but to his credit, he had some of the most challenging assignments nightly, contributing to his poor analytics.

Ceci’s former team, the Edmonton Oilers, didn’t have the capabilities of making a big splash at the deadline. Still, they did make a handful of acquisitions that have solidified key positions in their march to the Stanley Cup Finals. The Oilers’ big moves were for forward Trent Frederic and defenseman Jake Walman.

Frederic was acquired to provide some sandpaper in the bottom six and chip in the occasional goal. It took a while for him to get going, thanks to a high ankle sprain, but he seemed to hit his stride in the second round against Vegas. Frederic hasn’t provided much offense, with just a goal and three assists in 16 playoff games, but he has been a physical threat anytime he’s on the ice, with 59 hits thus far. Frederic’s underlying numbers aren’t good, but he has been handed complex deployments and tough matchups as a member of the Oilers’ bottom six.

The Walman acquisition by Edmonton was a tidy piece of business, as the 29-year-old has helped stabilize the Oilers’ bottom pairing and has chipped in some offence as well. Walman has been given a very favourable deployment, which has allowed him to use his puck-moving ability and skating to contribute to Edmonton’s playoff success. Edmonton paid San Jose a steep price to acquire Walman, and while his results have been okay, it does feel like an overpay for what he brings.

The Florida Panthers were another team that was busy around the Trade Deadline, making a massive trade for defenseman Seth Jones on March 1st. The Panthers sent goaltender Spencer Knight and a conditional first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft for Jones, who also came to Florida along with a fourth-round pick in 2026. Jones was dramatically overpaid in Chicago at $9.5MM annually, but with retained salary, is at a $7MM cap hit with Florida, which is much more in line with his play. Jones has been great since coming over to Florida, eating up a ton of minutes and providing above-average play in almost every aspect of the game. Jones struggled at times with the speed of the game, but has been an overwhelmingly positive presence for the Panthers; his acquisition has given Florida a very formidable defensive core that has brought them to a second straight Stanley Cup Final.

Jones wasn’t the only splash that Panthers general manager Bill Zito made at the Trade Deadline, as he also acquired forward Brad Marchand from the Boston Bruins. Marchand has been everything the Panthers were hoping he could be and more, playing a pivotal role in the series against the Toronto Maple Leafs with three goals and five assists in seven games. Marchand’s acquisition cost Florida a conditional second-round pick in 2027 that has now become a first-rounder. Still, given his impact, Florida would likely pay it again if given the choice.

Lastly, we look at the moves the now-eliminated Carolina Hurricanes made at the Trade Deadline. As part of the Rantanen trade, Carolina was able to acquire forward Taylor Hall, who is no longer a Hart Trophy contender but remains a good player. The 33-year-old was the first overall pick in 2010 and had a decent offensive season this year with 18 goals and 24 assists in a bounce-back year after he was injured for most of the previous season. While Hall was a good acquisition for Carolina, it wasn’t enough to move the needle, and ultimately, their lack of meaningful additions cost them, as they didn’t have the horses necessary to get by the Panthers.

Outside of the trades involving Hall and Rantanen, the Hurricanes’ acquisition of Stankoven was a tidy little move that should pay dividends long term, as the 22-year-old was a steady point producer down the stretch with five goals and four assists in 19 games with Carolina. Despite being undersized, the Kamloops, British Columbia native also had a good playoff showing, with five goals and three assists in 15 games and should be a key contributor for the Hurricanes for a long time. His presence won’t lessen the sting of not being able to keep Rantanen in Carolina, but the Hurricanes didn’t walk away empty-handed and will have some other pieces of that trade in the fold very soon.

All that being said, the lack of a game-breaker badly hurt the Hurricanes, and they may look back on the move to trade Rantanen with a bit of regret, given that they lacked that player who could take over a game in the Florida series. Carolina continues to struggle to overcome the hump that is the Eastern Conference and probably should have been more aggressive at the Deadline given the state of their roster and their position in their competitive window.

Carolina made one other move for depth center Mark Jankowski. The 30-year-old finished the regular season strong with eight goals in his final 19 games but was used sparingly in the playoffs as he dressed in just seven games and had a single point. His move offered some depth, but it just wasn’t what Carolina needed to take down the formidable Panthers.

Image courtesy of Perry Nelson-Imagn Images.

Should The Stars Consider Trading Robertson?

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As a result of extensions handed out to Wyatt Johnston and Mikko Rantanen, the Stars enter the summer with less than $5MM in cap room, per PuckPedia, with several roster spots to fill.  Obviously, they’ll need to trim some salary somewhere but instead of looking to move some of their pricier role players, Daily Faceoff’s Jeff Marek posits the idea of moving Jason Robertson.  The 25-year-old has one year left on his contract with a $7.75MM cap hit and will be an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent next summer in line for a sizable raise.  While losing him would undoubtedly be a big hit to their roster as an 80-point player for three straight years now, it could also allow them to recoup some of the draft capital they moved out when they loaded up at the trade deadline and add some flexibility to round out their group this summer.

Pagnotta: Stars Players Displeased With DeBoer

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A coaching controversy is brewing in Dallas. According to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, Dallas Stars players were displeased with Pete DeBoer’s coaching tactics during the Western Conference Final and his postgame remarks after Game 5.

DeBoer’s comments after the game did nothing to help. Chastising Oettinger to the media after being eliminated from the postseason, DeBoer said, “I didn’t blame it all on Jake, but the reality is if you go back to last year’s playoffs, he’s lost six of seven games to Edmonton. And we give up two goals on two shots in an elimination game. … That’s a pretty big sample size.” Whether DeBoer is correct in his assessment of Oettinger, it was not a professional comment to make publicly, and the Stars players are responding in kind.

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Alexander Petrovic Clears Waivers, Assigned To AHL

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1:20 PM: Petrovic cleared waivers and has been assigned to AHL Texas, the team announced.  Dallas also reassigned goaltender Ben Kraws to Texas.

11:49 AM: The Dallas Stars aren’t done managing their rosters just yet. They’ve placed defenseman Alexander Petrovic on waivers for purpose of assignment to the minor leagues, per PuckPedia. Petrovic appeared in 17 of Dallas’ 18 postseason games. He recorded two points, four penalty minutes, and a minus-one while operating from a bottom-pair role.

Petrovic had only played in five NHL games before the start of the postseason. He spent the rest of his season with the AHL’s Texas Stars – netting 25 points, 66 penalty minutes, and a plus-eight through 58 games. It was a step up in production from the 22 points, 40 penalty minutes, and minus-six Petrovic recorded in 70 games last season. Dallas brought him on their postseason run for the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs as well, though he didn’t manage any scoring in seven playoff games.

The 6-foot-5, 211-pound Petrovic is a seasoned-in vet of the pro leagues. He had an extended run in the NHL from 2014 to 2019, but found more footing in a minor-league role starting in the 2019-20 season. Petrovic moved to Texas in the 2021-22 season and has become a staple of the minor-league Stars’ blue-line. He’ll get a chance to return to his top-end role now that Dallas has been eliminated from Stanley Cup contention.

The Texas Stars are currently down 2-0 to the Abbotsford Canucks in the AHL’s Western Conference Finals. It’s been a tight-fought series, with Game 1 settled in overtime and Game 2 decided by a 1-0 scoreline. It’s also getting chippier by the moment, and adding the hard-hitting presence of Petrovic could be the piece that tilts things back in Texas’ favor.

Stars’ DeBoer, Oettinger Haven’t Spoken Since Elimination

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Dallas Stars head coach Pete DeBoer told reporters he hasn’t spoken to all-star goalie Jake Oettinger since pulling him early in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final — a revelation that left TSN Hockey analyst and former NHL goaltender Martin Biron puzzled.

The 26-year-old Oettinger opened the playoffs on a strong note but struggled against the Oilers, fading as the series wore on. His postseason came to a sudden end in Game 5, when he surrendered goals on the first two shots in a 6–3 loss that knocked the Stars out. DeBoer noted that the coaching staff discussed potentially sitting Oettinger for Game 4 of the Western Conference Final, citing his heavy playoff workload and the fact that he was dealing with an “upper-respiratory thing.” Despite all of this, Baron still finds it strange that DeBoer didn’t seek to discuss the situation with his star goaltender.

“My first reaction is that it’s mind-boggling. I get that you’re not going to talk to him Thursday night after the game. And Friday, no one is in the office. But Saturday morning, you know you’re going to talk to the media. So, you need to have that conversation and clear the air. Then you can address the media. I don’t know what they were thinking. And I think this is on Pete DeBoer and the organization. Jake Oettinger isn’t going to knock on the door and ask to talk. Imagine if Scott Arniel doesn’t go and talk to Connor Hellebuyck in this type of situation. Or if Jon Cooper doesn’t go and talk to Andrei Vasilevskiy in a situation like this. That would never happen,” Biron said.

For his part, Oettinger told reporters Saturday that while he was surprised to be pulled so early in Game 5, he understood the decision, noting that if he had made a save on either of the first two shots, he likely would have stayed in the game. Oettinger, who noted the illness he was dealing with didn’t hinder his performance, said he will use the setback as a learning opportunity and even joked about how often he was shown on the jumbotron after being pulled. “I don’t know why they kept showing me. I hadn’t even moved in like 30 minutes,” he joked.

He would go on to add, “It sucks. It’s embarrassing. Any time you get pulled, whether it’s the playoffs or regular season, you just want to get off the ice and crawl under your bed and not talk to anyone. But especially in a moment like that, it’s embarrassing.”

When asked directly whether he had any concerns about his relationship with DeBoer moving forward, Oettinger again chose to focus on his own performance rather than address his dynamic with the coach.

“I think for me it’s just the whole experience is something I’m going to learn from, and it’s just going to help me grow and be a better person and a better goalie. My job is to stop the puck, and I feel like I’m one of the best in the world when I’m playing well. So that’s all I’m going to focus on. All the extra stuff is just extra stuff. If I go out there next year and I’m the best goalie in the world, then this stuff doesn’t matter. One of (the media) could be coaching, and it wouldn’t matter,” he said.

Dallas Notes: Benn, Hintz, Lundkvist, Oettinger

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For the first time in his career, longtime Dallas Stars forward Jamie Benn is heading for free agency. That said, Benn told reporters he intends to play next season — and plans to do so with the Stars, per Taylor Baird of NHL.com.

The Stars’ captain said, “I’m going into the summer planning on playing next year. I don’t see myself going anywhere else. This is all I know. Hopefully, we can figure something out.”

Benn has played all 1,192 of his games in Dallas. The soon-to-be 36-year-old ranks second only to franchise legend Mike Modano in several key categories, including games played, points, goals, and shots on goal. He also secured the franchise’s only Art Ross Trophy when he posted 87 points during the 2014-15 season.

This past season, Benn proved he can still contribute in a bottom-six role, finishing with a respectable 16 goals and 49 points. However, his production dipped in the postseason, where he managed just three points in 18 games.

Elsewhere with the Stars:

  • GM Jim Nill confirmed that forward Roope Hintz sustained a foot fracture after being slashed by Edmonton Oilers’ defenseman Darnell Nurse in Game 2 of the Western Conference Final, according to Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas Morning News. The injury kept Hintz out of Game 3, and while he was on the ice for Games 4 and 5, the injury limited the defensively responsible forward. The slash was originally called a major penalty; however, the referees later downgraded it to a minor, much to the frustration of coach Pete DeBoer. Nill also confirmed that defenseman Nils Lundkvist was recently cleared by his surgeon for full contact in practice. Lundkvist underwent shoulder surgery in February that was originally labeled as a season-ending procedure. However, DeBoer noted at the start of the playoffs that Lundkvist could have potentially returned if the Stars made a deep enough run. While Lundkvist ultimately wasn’t able to return, it appears he’ll have a clean bill of health heading into next season.
  • DeBoer also noted that the coaching staff discussed potentially sitting goalie Jake Oettinger for Game 4 of the Western Conference Final, citing his heavy playoff workload (more than any other goalie) and the fact that he was dealing with an “upper-respiratory thing,” per Assimakopoulos. The 26-year-old started strong in the playoffs but cooled off considerably against the Oilers. His postseason ended abruptly in Game 5, when he allowed two goals on the first two shots he faced in a 6–3 loss that eliminated the Stars.

Matt Duchene Seeking Multi-Year Deal This Summer

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Matt Duchene has spent the last two seasons with the Stars on one-year contracts.  However, just because he signed a one-year pact to remain with Dallas last year doesn’t mean he will this time around.  Speaking with reporters today (video link), the center indicated that while he’d like to remain with the Stars, he’s also looking for stability beyond another one-year deal.

The 34-year-old fit in quite well with Dallas after he signed a one-year, $3MM contract following his somewhat surprising buyout from the Predators in 2023.  He put up 25 goals and 40 assists in the 2023-24 campaign before struggling in the playoffs where he had just six points in 19 games.  Still, that was more than a good enough performance to earn a second act with the Stars but once again, their cap situation necessitated another one-year, $3MM agreement.

This season was better than his first with Dallas.  Duchene potted 30 goals along with a career-high 52 assists in 82 games while logging over 17 minutes a night during the regular season.  Unfortunately for him and the Stars, his playoff struggles returned as he scored just one goal with five helpers in their 18 contests before being ousted in five games by Edmonton earlier this week.

While the second straight postseason struggle likely doesn’t help his value, Duchene is still very well positioned to land a fair-sized raise and a multi-year deal this summer if he reaches the open market.  He is a legitimate second center in a market that will feature a lot of teams looking to upgrade down the middle.  On top of that, he has been above average at the faceoff dot in every season but his first back in 2009-10 and with nearly 900 career points in over 1,100 games, he’s a proven commodity.  It’s not outlandish to think he could double his contract from these last two seasons.

But if that happens, Duchene won’t be able to get his wish to stay in Dallas, at least barring some moves to open up salary cap flexibility.  The Stars have less than $5MM in cap space this summer per PuckPedia with several roster spots to fill with that money.  It’d be one thing to try to free up a bit of room to sign Duchene around the salary he’s earned the last two years but it would take multiple moves to have a chance to pay him market value.

With that in mind, Duchene will have to decide between taking less than his value to stay on Dallas with the hopes of getting at least two years on his next deal or testing free agency where he’d undoubtedly get both big money and term.  He has the next month to deliberate just how important remaining with the Stars is to him.

Oilers’ Zach Hyman Undergoing Wrist Surgery, Likely Out For Season

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10:21 a.m.: Hyman’s surgery will be on his wrist, not shoulder, Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK relays.

10:04 a.m.: Not only is Hyman’s series over, but he likely won’t be back for Edmonton in a potential Stanley Cup Final matchup either. Head coach Kris Knoblauch tells reporters, including Ryan Rishaug of TSN, that Hyman will undergo surgery today to address the upper-body injury and is expected not to return this season.

9:05 a.m.: Oilers top-six winger Zach Hyman will not play in tomorrow’s Game 5 of the Western Conference Final against the Stars and isn’t expected to return if Dallas manages to extend the series with a win, Jason Gregor of Sports 1440 reports.

Hyman left yesterday’s Game 4 win midway through the first period with an apparent upper-body injury and did not return. He left the ice while favoring his right shoulder/upper arm area after an awkward neutral zone collision with Stars winger Mason Marchment. He went to the locker room shortly thereafter (video link).

Now in his fourth playoff run with Edmonton, Hyman has again been a first or second-line constant, although his linemates have remained in flux. He’s recently settled in on the top line alongside Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, which has been the most dominant line of the West Final so far. At 5-on-5, the trio has outscored Dallas 3-0 while outshooting the Stars 20-8 and outchancing them 19-9.

After an underwhelming regular season, Hyman has rediscovered his game in the playoffs. He’s not quite at last year’s level of postseason dominance (16-6–22 in 25 GP), but he’s still tied for fourth on the Oilers with five goals, ranks fifth with 11 points, and sits third with a +10 rating. He’s also logged 111 hits – 41 more than any other Oiler and first in the league by a significant margin.

He’s a significant loss as Edmonton looks to close out the series and secure a second straight Stanley Cup Final appearance in Game 5, and an even more significant one if he’s unavailable for any SCF action. Since signing with the Oilers in free agency in 2021, Hyman has 35 goals, 25 assists, and 60 points in 68 playoff games – eighth in the league over the past four seasons.

Without Hyman, Edmonton will need to continue receiving solid secondary scoring from names like Evander Kane and Corey Perry and strong goaltending from the resurgent Stuart Skinner, who’s up to a .939 SV% in the series. If the Panthers advance with a Game 5 win over the Hurricanes tonight and the Oilers win tomorrow, the Stanley Cup Final could presumably start as early as Saturday night – and it’s almost a certainty they’ll be without Hyman for that potential Game 1 if he wouldn’t be available for a potential WCF Game 6 that night either.

Image courtesy of Perry Nelson-Imagn Images.

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