The Dallas Stars are hoping to become a perennial Stanley Cup Playoff team and believe new coach Peter DeBoer can make it happen.
DeBoer was hired as coach June 21, replacing Rick Bowness, who resigned on May 20 after the Stars were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Calgary Flames in seven games. Dallas missed the playoffs in 2020-21 after reaching the Cup Final the previous season.
"He's had a lot of great success and I think he's the right guy for our team at this time," Stars general manager Jim Nill said on June 22. "Our team's in a good spot, a little bit of a transition, but it's a good transition. We have a great core of players and we have a great group of young players coming in.
"The organization's in a good spot. The key was to find the right person to be able to bring this all together."
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Since the 2011-12 season when he led the New Jersey Devils to the Stanley Cup Final, DeBoer's teams have made the playoffs seven times in his 10 full seasons, and he's reached the Cup Final twice (also 2016 with the San Jose Sharks).
The Stars were led by their top forward line of left wing Jason Robertson, center Roope Hintz and right wing Joe Pavelski last season. Pavelski led them with 81 points (27 goals, 54 assists) in 82 games, Robertson, who is a restricted free agent, was second with 79 points (41 goals, 38 assists) in 74 games, and Hintz was third with 72 points (37 goals, 35 assists) in 80 games. After that, however, there was a steep drop in production; forward Tyler Seguin was next with 49 points (24 goals, 25 assists) in 81 games.
"The challenge for us in Dallas is to become more than a one-line team, which is what I think a lot of people on the outside considered them last year," DeBoer said.
The Stars, who averaged 2.84 goals per game last season (21st in the NHL), need more secondary scoring and will look to veterans such as Seguin and forward Jamie Benn, who had 46 points (18 goals, 28 assists) in 82 games.
Dallas signed forward Mason Marchment to a four-year contract on July 13 with hopes he can give the offense a boost. He had an NHL career-high 47 points (18 goals, 29 assists) in 54 games with the Florida Panthers last season.
"Mason checked a lot of boxes in terms of what we felt our needs were up front as a group," Stars assistant GM Scott White said July 13. "He's big (6-foot-4, 209 pounds), he can skate, he produced on a good team, and a lot of 5-on-5 time as well in his production. We think there's plenty of ceiling there, he's kind of a late bloomer. He had a great year, and it was a competitive market for him. we feel we've upgraded our group up front."
