Gulutzan Focused On Making Stars More Physical
The Dallas Stars are in the midst of a frustrating streak. They’ve lost in the Western Conference Finals in each of the last three seasons, including back-to-back losses at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers. In an effort to curb their bad luck, Dallas went directly to the source to fill their head coaching vacancy earlier this summer. They hired Oilers assistant Glen Gulutzan, who brings the sharp assessment of Dallas’ roster that only a Conference rival could have. In an interview with Sean Shapiro of the Dallas Magazine, Gulutzan shared that his key focus for the 2025-26 Stars will be playing more physical.
Gulutzan’s critique of Dallas’ style certainly lands at a good time. The Stars delivered the fewest hits in the league, at even-strength, last season (1,160 total hits). They were also on the receiving end of more hits than any other club (1,963 total hits received). It was the second-straight season that Dallas ranked dead-last in the NHL in terms of hits-given versus hits-received – but Gulutzan’s urge to address that weakness won’t take too much improvement. The Oilers have also been among the league’s most out-hit clubs, ranking second-to-last in the 2024-25 season and fifth-to-last in 2023-24.
Even with that standing, Gulutzan acknowledged how much a dash of physicality transformed the Oilers. He pointed directly to the growth of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl over the last two seasons. McDavid recorded a career-high 118 hits in the 2023-24 season, while Draisaitl reached 58 hits, the second-highest mark of his career. Both players took a major step back in hits this season – McDavid recording just 40, and Draisaitl recording 23 – but star talent leaning into the physical game clearly inspired the Oilers lineup. Gulutzan told Shapiro:
You had to ask the elite players to use their skills and smarts to check, not to deliver big body checks, but to check and add a little physicality each shift… And the reality is that’s the evolution of that group. It happened because [McDavid and Draisitl] wanted it to happen, and reinforced it for everyone. I look at our team [in Dallas]. I’m putting the energy in the same spot
To their credit, Dallas does have their fair share of bruisers at the top of the lineup. Rookie Lian Bichsel managed an incredible 155 hits in just 38 games last season, confidently leading all NHL defensemen in hits-per-60 minutes played. The Stars also continue to receive heavy physicality from captain Jamie Benn, who has recorded at least 100 hits in three of the last four seasons – and 97 hits in his sole off-year. But Gulutzan will ask for more out of the rest of the team’s stars – a group likely to include Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz, Mikko Rantanen and Wyatt Johnston who managed 60, 53, 48, and 45 hits last season respectively.
A new brand of physicality could be the piece that pushes Dallas past their Western Conference foes. The Florida Panthers just won back-to-back Stanley Cups on the heels of high-pressure forechecking opening ground for their star scorers. That will be the mantra Dallas looks to adopt under new head coach Gulutzan, as they look to pave their way past the Western Conference for the first time since 2020 next season.
Stars Hire Glen Gulutzan As Head Coach
July 1: Dallas has announced Gulutzan’s appointment.
June 29: The Stars have offered their head coaching vacancy to Oilers assistant Glen Gulutzan, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports. They’ve yet to agree on a contract but are expected to announce him as their new bench boss in the near future.
The hiring will kick off Gulutzan’s second stint in the Stars organization. They’re the team that gave him his first NHL head coaching gig back in 2011, promoting him after he served as the head coach of AHL Texas for two seasons. His two-year run with Dallas was forgettable – a 64-57-9 record (.527) and no playoff appearances led to his dismissal after two seasons. He then joined the Canucks’ bench as an assistant for three years before resurfacing as head coach of the Flames, where he posted a 82-68-14 record (.543) before again being let go after two years. Calgary made the playoffs under Gulutzan in 2017 but was swept by the Ducks in the first round.
Gulutzan, 53, returns to Dallas hoping for better results this time around. He’ll have a much better roster to help him out. While he bounced from team to team for much of the 2010s, the now-53-year-old caught on as an assistant coach in Edmonton after being fired by the Flames and has remained there until today. He’s helped the team to back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances on Kris Knoblauch’s staff, beating the Stars in the Western Conference Final on both occasions.
The former ECHL Coach of the Year with the Las Vegas Wranglers will take over for Peter DeBoer, who was a surprise firing after Dallas was bounced in this year’s WCF. Reports indicated the relationship between DeBoer and starting goaltender Jake Oettinger had rapidly deteriorated after DeBoer pulled him from their Game 5 season-ending loss early.
His new staff in Dallas remains to be seen. They already lost assistants Steve Spott to the Bruins and Misha Donskov to a role with Hockey Canada. It’s unclear if the lone remaining assistant, Alain Nasreddine, will return under Gulutzan.
Image courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports.
Stars Nearing A Decision On Their Next Head Coach
Earlier today, the Stars took care of keeping one of their team leaders in place when they signed Jamie Benn to a one-year, bonus-laden contract to keep him away from hitting the open market. Meanwhile, it appears that they’re closing in on finding their next leader behind the bench, as TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that Dallas is close to finalizing their coaching decision with Neil Graham and Glen Gulutzan the perceived favorites for the job.
Graham has not yet worked at the NHL level but has plenty of familiarity with the organization. After retiring during the 2012-13 season while playing for their ECHL affiliate in Idaho, he immediately became an assistant coach, moving into the head coaching role a few years later while also serving as their Director of Hockey Operations. Graham was moved up to AHL Texas in 2019 as an assistant but was promoted to the full-time head coaching role later that season, a role he has held since then. Texas has made the playoffs in each of the last four seasons and made it to the Western Conference Finals this year before losing to Abbotsford who won the Calder Cup earlier this week. That success understandably has him on the radar.
As for Gulutzan, he certainly has familiarity with the organization as well. He spent two years as the head coach with Texas and in 2011, he was promoted to serve in that role with Dallas. The team played to a 64-57-9 record with Gulutzan at the helm but missed the playoffs both times. As a result, he was fired just two weeks after GM Jim Nill joined Dallas. Gulutzan was also the bench boss with Calgary in 2016-17 and 2017-18 with one playoff appearance during that time. He has been an assistant with Edmonton since the 2018-19 season.
Whoever takes over will have high expectations as they’ll be taking the place of Peter DeBoer who was let go despite the Stars making it to the Western Conference Final for three straight years. Nill has been trying to keep as much of his veteran core in place as possible to try to keep them in contention for a while longer, meaning that expectations will be quite high right away.