Stars Have Options For Their Next Head Coach
Dave Pangotta of the Fourth Period was on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio on Monday with Scott Laughlin and Gord Stellick and was asked about who the next coach will be for the Dallas Stars and what direction they go in?
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
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Scott Laughlin: “And Dave, when you look at Dallas, you know, just talking about the fact that that’s going to be a pretty golden opportunity for a coach to move into right you’ve already got (Jake) Oettinger and (Miro) Heiskanen, and you’ve got Wyatt Johnston up front, who’s going to get better and better as the years go by. That’s a pretty good starting point for a team that’s been to three straight Western Conference Final appearances. And in which direction do you see them going?
I threw the names out there of Todd Nelson, who’s got a history with Dallas, of course, and Jim Nill. Dan Bylsma is going to join us just past the top of the hour, another guy that, after one season, somewhat inexplicably, was shown the door after he led Coachella Valley to back-to-back Calder Cup final appearances against, ironically, Todd Nelson and Hershey, with what he did. Or do you see them maybe falling back on an experience, guy like a Peter Laviolette, who’s out there, obviously, right now.”
Dave Pagnotta: “Yeah, I think mean, they certainly have some options that are that are available to them. (Neil) Graham, who coaches their AHL affiliate in Texas, they’re very high on. We’re starting to hear the name Glen Gulutzan a little bit more. An assistant here with Edmonton. Obviously, he’s a little busy right now, so we’ll see kind of where they go in this direction. But whoever comes in is going to be handed some pretty shiny keys.
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And it’s a talented team that they’re going to make some adjustments, by the looks of things, roster wise, this off season, they only have about $5 million in cap space, so they’re going to try to be a little bit creative here in keeping as much of the roster, kind of intact, and keeping them in contention as much as they can. So we’ll see.
We’re starting to hear, Mason Marchment curious about his his future. He’s got in and around, $5 million just under, to give them a little bit of breathing space. Jamie Benn wants to stay. Jim Nill said that they’re going to try to make that happen. They’d like to make that happen. They’re going to have to either get creative in terms of trying to keep Matt Duchene or replace him if he does walk as a free agent. He mentioned that in his interviews with the media that he wants some stability on his next contract. Doesn’t want to have another one-year deal. He’s made a heck of an argument this season that to earn something like that.
So, again, little bit of roster turnover, a little bit of fine tuning here and there. But whoever does end up coming in, whether it’s, Nelson or Gulutzan, Graham or whoever, or if they do go the vet approach, they’re going to be handed a roster that’s right there, willing and able to do damage.”
NHLRumors.com Note: While Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill is keeping all his options on the table when it comes to the coaching search, reports are they are not going with another retread coach. The Stars are not bringing in a veteran guy as they did with Pete DeBoer. So that means Peter Laviolette, Gerard Gallant, and John Tortella are off the table.
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The interesting name here is Jay Woodcroft because he only had the one job in Edmonton and has interviewed for multiple positions throughout the NHL this offseason including in Pittsburgh and Boston.
Woodcroft has ties to the Dallas Stars as well. So that could be a name that is thrown into the mix along with Neil Graham, Todd Nelson, and Glen Gulutzan.
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