Pete DeBoer is a known commodity.
When the Stars introduced him as their next head coach on Wednesday morning, the franchise understood what it is getting from the 54-year-old bench boss.
It knew what kind of style he likes to play — a puck-possession game that emphasizes involvement from defensemen. It knew what kind of results he’s produced — two trips to the Final and five conference final berths. It knew what criticism he’s received — for his handling of goaltenders and his lack of a Stanley Cup.
The Stars found what they were looking for in DeBoer.
“In the end, when you can add somebody with his experience and his success [you do],” Stars general manager Jim Nill said. “I’m a big résumé guy, you need to have success. This is a tough league; this is a tough league to coach in. You have to be able to handle situations. I know Pete can do it.”
DeBoer is one of eight current NHL coaches with at least 1,000 games as an NHL head coach. In his first seasons in New Jersey and San Jose, he advanced to the Stanley Cup Final. During his first full season in Vegas, he finished one point shy of the President’s Trophy. He first broke into the NHL in Florida in 2008.
“It’s my fifth stop, but I don’t feel like an old coach,” DeBoer said. “I was the youngest coach in the league when I came in at 40 in Florida. Coached over 1,000 games, but I don’t feel like an old coach. I feel like I’m still learning every day. I got a ton of energy and my name on the Stanley Cup is what drives me.”
DeBoer’s primary objective will be to inject more offense into the Stars’ current attack that ranked 30th, 25th, 30th and 30th the last four years in 5-on-5 scoring per 60 minutes. By comparison, Vegas ranked sixth under DeBoer in goal-scoring at 5 on 5 per 60 minutes.
On Wednesday, during his introductory press conference, DeBoer hit on many of the same talking points that former coach Rick Bowness spoke about during his time in Dallas.
Offense comes from playing good defense and breaking out cleanly. Defensemen will be involved in the play. Depth scoring will take care of itself with a playing style that features more offensive zone time. A strong defensive foundation is key: “This team defends as well as any team in the league,” DeBoer said.
The hope for the Stars is that rhetoric turns into results in the fall. It has at DeBoer’s past stops.
Of course, the main thing missing from DeBoer’s resume is a Stanley Cup.
“When you get that close, that’s your only motivation,” DeBoer said. “Dallas wasn’t the only team I interviewed with. I wanted to make sure that wherever I chose to go next, that the only criteria for me was that I was working with good people and I had a chance to win a Stanley Cup. We weren’t in a rebuilding situation. This checked both those boxes for me.”
DeBoer becomes the fifth coach to serve during Nill’s tenure as general manager, following Lindy Ruff, Ken Hitchcock, Jim Montgomery and Bowness.
“I think he’s the right guy for our team at this time,” Nill said. “Our team’s in a good spot. A little bit of a transition, but it’s a good transition. We’ve got a great core of players, got a great group of young players coming in that are layered.”
Nill leaned on Stars forward Joe Pavelski to provide insight on DeBoer. Pavelski played for DeBoer in San Jose and is the only current Dallas player to have played for him. Pavelski was the Sharks captain before signing as a free agent in Dallas in 2019.
He re-signed with the Stars earlier this spring, and Nill said he had two or three good conversations with Pavelski about DeBoer.
“It was no secret that I was going to talk to him,” Nill said. “Everything I heard was what I wanted to hear. Joe did have a big part of some of the information that we received.”
Now, DeBoer has to fill out his staff.
Two positions will remain filled: Jeff Reese as the Stars goaltending coach and Kelly Forbes as the Stars video coach.
“Jeff has done an outstanding job, been a long-time coach,” DeBoer said. “Excited that he’s here. Kelly’s reputation as a video coach precedes him. When you talk and you ask around the league, this guy’s the best in the business. Really excited that we’ve got those two guys here.”
DeBoer will likely need three more assistant coaches behind the bench. Nill said they have already put a list of potential candidates together.
“You can’t just be solid in Xs and Os,” DeBoer said. “You need to be able to develop relationships, develop relationships quickly. We want good people and we’re going to an extensive search to make sure we get the right people around us.”
It’s about the only unknown left about DeBoer.
“I think the Dallas Stars are getting a better coach than the coach that was in Vegas, and a better coach than that [who] took San Jose to the Final and a better coach than the coach that took New Jersey to the Final,” DeBoer said. “Jim’s getting me at the right time.”
