Performance Evaluation: Jake Oettinger had an okay year under the new coaching staff, but he definitely wanted more. Oettinger finished with the third most wins in the league at 35 and helped the Stars post the third best record overall. But he posted the worst save percentage of his career and his overall numbers actually paled compared to those of goaltending partner Casey DeSmith (15-8-6, 2.43 GAA and .907 save percentage). It was a bit of a confusing season to put it plainly. Oettinger had plenty of motivation. He was coming off a traumatic playoff exit where former head coach Pete DeBoer harshly pulled him in a must-win Game 5 vs. Edmonton. That decision ended up sparking a coaching change, and the feeling was that it showed the organization’s support for Oettinger. Mix in the fact that he was really vying to be the starting goalie for Team USA at the Olympics, and it was a ready-made storybook campaign. But despite solid support from the new coaching staff and his teammates, Oettinger was unable to post the kind of numbers that would allow him to beat out Connor Hellebuyck for the Olympic No. 1 spot. In fact, he was the only USA goalie to not play in a game during the tournament. Then, he and the Stars exited after a six-game loss to Minnesota in the First Round, and there was a very unsatisfied feeling for the big backstop. Oettinger himself said after the year that he wanted more. GM Jim Nill echoed those thoughts. “He knows he needs to get better… not better, but more consistent,” Nill said at the locker cleanout day. It was a fairly bold statement for the soft-spoken GM, but it comes from a good place. Oettinger ranked 11th in GAA last season and 24th in save percentage at .899. His numbers dropped in the playoffs (2-4, 2.82, .893) when they should have improved. He does need to be more consistent, and he does need to be better as he enters his seventh season in the NHL.
