The Dallas Stars are bringing back Glen Gulutzan as their head coach 12 years after he was fired by the organization, a source confirmed to ESPN amid multiple reports Sunday.
Gulutzan, who was serving as an assistant coach with the Edmonton Oilers, replaces Pete DeBoer, who was fired by the Stars earlier this month after three seasons. An official announcement is expected shortly by the team.
Gulutzan inherits a talented roster that's been runner-up in the conference for three straight seasons. That includes star winger Mikko Rantanen, whom they acquired at the trade deadline and singed to an eight-year, $96 million extension.
The 53-year-old Gulutzan coached the Stars from 2011 to 2013, going 64-57-9 and missing the playoffs in both seasons. He had been hired to replace Marc Crawford, after coaching the Stars' AHL affiliate for two seasons and the ECHL Las Vegas Wranglers for six seasons.
Two weeks after the Stars hired him in 2013 to run the team, current general manager Jim Nill fired Gulutzan, saying the team decided to "go in a different direction" and then hired veteran coach Lindy Ruff.
Twelve years later, Nill has rehired Gulutzan as his head coach, hoping he can lead the team to the Stanley Cup.
After being fired by Dallas, Gulutzan moved on to be an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks under John Tortorella and Willie Desjardins, before being hired by the Calgary Flames in 2016 as head coach. He lasted two seasons there, making the playoffs once, before being replaced by Bill Peters.
He moved on to become an assistant coach with the Oilers for seven seasons under four different head coaches. Gulutzan had a good relationship with star center Connor McDavid and ran the team's power play, which was No. 1 in the NHL (26.8% conversion rate) during his time in Edmonton.
Dallas began searching for a new coach after firing DeBoer, who posted a .665 regular-season points percentage and led the Stars to the Western Conference Finals in three straight years. The Stars lost to Vegas in 2023 and then to Edmonton in the following two seasons.
In their Game 5 elimination by the Oilers in May, DeBoer pulled starting goalie Jake Oettinger after giving up two goals in the first 7:09 of the game, later calling out Oettinger for the team's lack of success against Edmonton.
Nill called that situation a "component" of his decision to fire DeBoer, who had one more year left on his contract, but that there were "things that took place during the season" that factored into it.
Nill said his assistant coaches "had done a great job" and hoped they'd continue to be part of the Stars. Gulutzan, however, will have to bring in new staffers after assistant coach Steve Spott left for the Boston Bruins and coach Misha Donskov took a role with Hockey Canada.
Nill recently said that assistant coaches Alain Nasreddine and Jeff Reese will return next season.
