Gulutzan returning as Stars coach more than decade later with ‘scars’

Glen Gulutzan believes he is more prepared this time to be coach of the Dallas Stars.

Working with two of the best players in the world -- forwards Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl -- the past seven seasons with the Edmonton Oilers gives him that confidence.

“To coach them, to be honest with you, they made me better because their minds are so elite,” Gulutzan said on Wednesday, one day after being hired again by the Stars. “It made me better. It challenged me as a coach to step to the plate every day when you had to come in and bring something forward to them. So, there’s growth there for a coach, I’ll tell you.”

McDavid and Draisaitl were once again the driving force for the Oilers last season. Draisaitl was third in the NHL with 106 points (52 goals, 54 assists) in 71 games, McDavid was sixth with 100 points (26 goals, 74 assists) in 67 games. They have led Edmonton to the Stanley Cup Final the past seasons, where it lost to the Florida Panthers both times (in seven games in 2024, six games this season).

McDavid has won the Art Ross Trophy, awarded annually to the player with the most points in the regular season, five times; the Hart Trophy, awarded to the League’s most valuable player in the regular season, three times; the Ted Lindsay Award as the League’s most outstanding player four times and the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2024.

Draisaitl won the Art Ross, the Hart and the Ted Lindsay in 2019-20.

“It’s going to go down, I told both of those young men, as one of the treasures of my life to have coached those types of players,” Gulutzan said. “I had the Sedins (Daniel and Henrik) in Vancouver, who were elite hockey minds. Connor and Leon are certainly elite, elite hockey minds and players, as everyone hockey fan would know.”

The two are a big part of the Oilers’ power play, which Gulutzan ran. In 2017-18, the season before he arrived in Edmonton, the power play, even with McDavid and Draisaitl, finished last (31st) in the League at 14.8 percent. It was ranked ninth in 2018-19, Gulutzan’s first season there, was No. 1 for three seasons (2019-20, 2020-21 and 2022-23), third in 2021-22 and fourth in 2023-24. It was 12th during the regular season in 2024-25 but converted at a 25.4 percent success rate in the playoffs.

“You have to collaborate a little bit more,” Gulutzan said. “You have to take into consideration what they do well and what they think. It’s a work-life balance, really, is what it is with those top guys.

“But you have to form a relationship, and any good relationship starts with trust. You do have to know what you’re talking about, too, because they can filter pretty quickly. At the end of the day, that’s what you have to do with all your players, is build some trust in there. Trust you’re trying to help them, trust you know what you’re doing and then once that gets going you can really be collaborative.”

Gulutzan returns to Dallas after two seasons as coach more than a decade ago (2011-13). He then spent three seasons as a Vancouver Canucks assistant (2013-16) before becoming Calgary Flames coach, where he lasted two seasons (2016-18). Gulutzan is 146-125-23 in 294 regular-season games as an NHL head coach.

Why will it go differently this time with the Stars?

“Because of the scars,” Gulutzan said. “I’ve been there, I’ve checked the boxes. We’ve won (in Edmonton). We didn’t win the Stanley Cup, been to the Final twice, coached some of the best players who are ever going to play this game, worked with them closely, built relationships with different people throughout the games.

“… You’ve got to make adjustments. When I was a younger guy, I didn’t make many adjustments; I knew one way to play. You’re self-taught, you’re self-learned. Now you bring in all that experience, you check a lot of boxes. So, players are the most important part of this game, no question. It’s not us coaches. You have to learn how to deal with them, you have to learn how to motivate them, you have to deal with star players, with guys who are getting 7-8 minutes a night, you have to deal with all those situations. The guy 12 years ago, he never dealt with them. This guy’s dealt with them for the last 12, so that’s the biggest difference. I’ve checked a lot of boxes.”