You could put any HOF coach behind that bench, if Nill does not fix the blue line, Dallas is a wild card PO team. And a very weak SC contender.
And it looks like Nill is trying to bring the same old boys back instead of getting creative.
What is for sure is that DeBoer is a better all around coach, and the 2025-2026 Dallas Stars will not be a better team on paper than the one that just got eliminated in the Conference Final.
Right now, both Hughes (Montreal) and Zito (Florida) are looking like genius.
Bolduc for Mailloux is the kind of genius move I would love to see our GM do sometimes.
How could you possibly say that DeBoer is for sure a better all around coach? For one, comparing their first three seasons as an NHL coach Gulutzan's teams had 267 pts compared to DeBoer's 242. Not to mention the Stars were in bankruptcy during his time. GG hasn't been a head coach in almost a decade. I will take the chance that he has learned and adapted things over that time. Meanwhile, DeBoer has pretty much proven he is either incapable or refuses to make changes. His teams peak in the first 3 years and then he is gone. Will he get over the hump somewhere? Maybe. But he sealed his fate when he kept Spott around last summer and then proceeded to get bounced by Edmonton again. The Stars need to find a way to tilt the ice into the o-zone for more time per game, DeBoer was not doing that. PD is a good coach, not disputing that. I simply don't think its fair or reasonable to assume we know what GG is as a head coach. Last thing, if it's true that he told the team they couldn't respond to Edmonton's whack on Roope or general after the whistle antics, that is a loser attitude. You want to save the blatant retaliation for next season? Fine. But the team looked like neutered puppies out there anytime Edmonton was stirring things up, I have a hard time believing that's by their choice.
You are proving my point, hiring GG is not a retread at all. In fact, to this point in his career in terms of games coached, he has almost the same results DeBoer had at that stage. I would argue with much less talent as well, not to mention the disaster the Stars FO was when he was here. He hasn’t been the head coach of an NHL team in almost a decade. Do you think it’s possible he has learned some new things since then? Perhaps improved his philosophy and management style? I am not saying he IS better than DeBoer. I am saying we have enough history, as shown by your games coached stats, that we know exactly who DeBoer is. A solid coach whose teams are always near the top of the league but incapable of winning the whole thing. If you’re arguing that because they are close in age it’s the same situation, go look at Craig Berube’s Wikipedia. Is he the same coach he was in Philadelphia?
I truly don’t understand how you can use DeBoer’s 1,200 games as an argument against GG and in the same comment suggest you would prefer Graham. Graham hasn’t spent any time on an NHL bench. Gulutzan has been on the bench the last two Cup finals and has spent time coaching and managing relationships with two of the best players in the world. I happen to think that experience likely taught him some things.
By no means is GG a guarantee, but he’s less of a gamble than Graham is and it’s pretty clear the team needed to move on from DeBoer.
Yeah not a retread as a HC, but surely as a coach that spent tons of time at the NHL level.
There is a reason why his career, as a head coach, did not explod like the career of DeBoer. That is why I put out their respective age.
As for the argument for Graham, we don't know his ceiling and he looks like a pretty talented coach. Just like a highly talented player that paid his dues at the AHL level and is now ready for NHL duties. Like a Harley for example. Or a Montgomery if we are talking about coaches.
Nill opted for the resume instead of the potential ceiling. At least, Graham will graduate at the NHL level. So that's that.
And Nill did the same thing today in signing Blackwell and Faksa instead of going for a player like Tomasino who signed for 1 years for 1,75M$.
To me, the moves(or lack of) made today, lead me to believe that Nill does not think PDB was getting the best out of this team. I was looking for more D, but it will be interesting to see what the new coach gets out of this team.
The Stars blue line isn't going to get crazy better, does that mean that they need to look to Ruff things up a bit more? Look at the EDM series, how many games did the team start out in a hole and/ or end up disappearing in the 3rd? Maybe the way to look at this isn't as the Stars team is today, but as a more balanced version of EDM or TOR? They aren't going to be FLA or CAR anytime soon, but maybe looking to outscore your problems is an option the team needs to look at closer.
we have got to get some cap room by giving away dumba and probably lybuschkin, or at least Dumba. We need some DEFENSE. Zito is a genius, but everyone wants to play on a winner like Florida. I'm an optimist with Glen G coming on board and Graham being asst coach....hmmm, is Alain Nasreddine going to stick around....
This hype for Florida as been built over time. This was not really the case 5 or 6 years ago.
Zito is a pure genius, and second you will find Hughes.
The voters that gave the GM of the year award to Nill were clearly on drugs. They forgot that 2 of his last year signing were healthy scratched most of the PO.
Plus Granlund. And with the vote taking place after the 2nd Round, it felt like Nill’s biggest moves had not just filled in for injuries but had actually driven the team to the brink of the SCF appearance.
Obviously things fell flat after that. And it’s not like Zito acquiring Marchand & Jones weren’t also clearing paying off well at that time.
But it’s revisionist history to say Nill wasn’t deserving. His team had injury issues, he made big trades to fill them, and that team beat two perceived contenders.
You could put any HOF coach behind that bench, if Nill does not fix the blue line, Dallas is a wild card PO team. And a very weak SC contender.
And it looks like Nill is trying to bring the same old boys back instead of getting creative.
What is for sure is that DeBoer is a better all around coach, and the 2025-2026 Dallas Stars will not be a better team on paper than the one that just got eliminated in the Conference Final.
Right now, both Hughes (Montreal) and Zito (Florida) are looking like genius.
Bolduc for Mailloux is the kind of genius move I would love to see our GM do sometimes.
How could you possibly say that DeBoer is for sure a better all around coach? For one, comparing their first three seasons as an NHL coach Gulutzan's teams had 267 pts compared to DeBoer's 242. Not to mention the Stars were in bankruptcy during his time. GG hasn't been a head coach in almost a decade. I will take the chance that he has learned and adapted things over that time. Meanwhile, DeBoer has pretty much proven he is either incapable or refuses to make changes. His teams peak in the first 3 years and then he is gone. Will he get over the hump somewhere? Maybe. But he sealed his fate when he kept Spott around last summer and then proceeded to get bounced by Edmonton again. The Stars need to find a way to tilt the ice into the o-zone for more time per game, DeBoer was not doing that. PD is a good coach, not disputing that. I simply don't think its fair or reasonable to assume we know what GG is as a head coach. Last thing, if it's true that he told the team they couldn't respond to Edmonton's whack on Roope or general after the whistle antics, that is a loser attitude. You want to save the blatant retaliation for next season? Fine. But the team looked like neutered puppies out there anytime Edmonton was stirring things up, I have a hard time believing that's by their choice.
I am giving GG a chance as I am trusting Nill was seeing things with this team that I am not able to see.
GG = 294 games coached and 146 wins + 4 PO games 53 years old
PDB = 1261 games coached and 662 wins + 179 PO games and 97 wins, 57 years old
You are mixing your criticism on DeBoer with the comparison between those two resume.
I would have prefer we named Graham well before hiring this retread.
But Nill is high on retread with his latest two signing in Blackwell and Faksa.
This team is seriously regressing.
A retread to me would be Tortorella, Gallant, etc…
You are proving my point, hiring GG is not a retread at all. In fact, to this point in his career in terms of games coached, he has almost the same results DeBoer had at that stage. I would argue with much less talent as well, not to mention the disaster the Stars FO was when he was here. He hasn’t been the head coach of an NHL team in almost a decade. Do you think it’s possible he has learned some new things since then? Perhaps improved his philosophy and management style? I am not saying he IS better than DeBoer. I am saying we have enough history, as shown by your games coached stats, that we know exactly who DeBoer is. A solid coach whose teams are always near the top of the league but incapable of winning the whole thing. If you’re arguing that because they are close in age it’s the same situation, go look at Craig Berube’s Wikipedia. Is he the same coach he was in Philadelphia?
I truly don’t understand how you can use DeBoer’s 1,200 games as an argument against GG and in the same comment suggest you would prefer Graham. Graham hasn’t spent any time on an NHL bench. Gulutzan has been on the bench the last two Cup finals and has spent time coaching and managing relationships with two of the best players in the world. I happen to think that experience likely taught him some things.
By no means is GG a guarantee, but he’s less of a gamble than Graham is and it’s pretty clear the team needed to move on from DeBoer.
Yeah not a retread as a HC, but surely as a coach that spent tons of time at the NHL level.
There is a reason why his career, as a head coach, did not explod like the career of DeBoer. That is why I put out their respective age.
As for the argument for Graham, we don't know his ceiling and he looks like a pretty talented coach. Just like a highly talented player that paid his dues at the AHL level and is now ready for NHL duties. Like a Harley for example. Or a Montgomery if we are talking about coaches.
Nill opted for the resume instead of the potential ceiling. At least, Graham will graduate at the NHL level. So that's that.
And Nill did the same thing today in signing Blackwell and Faksa instead of going for a player like Tomasino who signed for 1 years for 1,75M$.
To me, the moves(or lack of) made today, lead me to believe that Nill does not think PDB was getting the best out of this team. I was looking for more D, but it will be interesting to see what the new coach gets out of this team.
Then-starter Mike Smith, sounds eerily close too, then-Star Mike Smith.
Getting old, guess it's time to recalibrate my way back machine.
The Stars blue line isn't going to get crazy better, does that mean that they need to look to Ruff things up a bit more? Look at the EDM series, how many games did the team start out in a hole and/ or end up disappearing in the 3rd? Maybe the way to look at this isn't as the Stars team is today, but as a more balanced version of EDM or TOR? They aren't going to be FLA or CAR anytime soon, but maybe looking to outscore your problems is an option the team needs to look at closer.
we have got to get some cap room by giving away dumba and probably lybuschkin, or at least Dumba. We need some DEFENSE. Zito is a genius, but everyone wants to play on a winner like Florida. I'm an optimist with Glen G coming on board and Graham being asst coach....hmmm, is Alain Nasreddine going to stick around....
This hype for Florida as been built over time. This was not really the case 5 or 6 years ago.
Zito is a pure genius, and second you will find Hughes.
The voters that gave the GM of the year award to Nill were clearly on drugs. They forgot that 2 of his last year signing were healthy scratched most of the PO.
yeah, I think the vote for Nill was largely based on the Raantanen piece and not based on all of the deals: Dumba, Lybuschkin, Ceci....
Plus Granlund. And with the vote taking place after the 2nd Round, it felt like Nill’s biggest moves had not just filled in for injuries but had actually driven the team to the brink of the SCF appearance.
Obviously things fell flat after that. And it’s not like Zito acquiring Marchand & Jones weren’t also clearing paying off well at that time.
But it’s revisionist history to say Nill wasn’t deserving. His team had injury issues, he made big trades to fill them, and that team beat two perceived contenders.