In the crease: Jake Oettinger motivated ahead of busy 2025-26 season

Jake Oettinger is at a great place in his career.

The Stars goalie won’t turn 27 until December and already ranks fourth in franchise history in wins at 149. He’s also second in playoff wins at 32 and second in playoff games played at 65.

That’s a lot of experience.

Mix that with the fact he’s just hitting his stride physically at 6-6, 224, and the time for Oettinger is definitely nigh.

“I’m lucky with the opportunity I was given to play when I was so young here,” Oettinger said of the fact that veterans Ben Bishop, Braden Holtby and Anton Khudobin all were phasing out as he was stepping up. “I’ve been the guy here for a while, and it’s been great and I’ve learned a lot, and I feel like I’m entering the best part of my career now.”

Ironically, that best time is coming after one of the worst. Oettinger was called out and benched by former head coach Pete DeBoer in Game 5 against Edmonton last season, and that became a memorable moment for all the wrong reasons. He was stuck on the bench while a national audience saw his pain and humiliation, and that evolved into a talking point as Stars GM Jim Nill decided to fire DeBoer two weeks later.

While weathering the incident was difficult, Oettinger said he learned a great deal from the experience.

“I think stuff happens, emotions run high, and people say and do things on a whim that maybe they look back and regret,” Oettinger said. “I mean, I’ve done that in my life. I’m sure everyone here has done that. You just learn from it, and that’s what I did.”

Oettinger said the experience helped him because it allowed him to touch base with his support group. In addition to his family and friends, the lanky goalie felt a lot of support from his teammates in the moment – and over the summer.

“It was a tough situation to go through, and lucky for me I have the best support system in the world around me,” Oettinger said. “The response I got from the people who care about me…I felt like the luckiest guy in the world. When you have people who don’t care about the wins and losses, they care about you as a human being, it’s a lot easier to be in this position.”

Oettinger has been among the NHL leaders in goalie stats and was third in wins at 36 last season. However, he ranked 12th in both GAA (2.59) and save percentage (.909), so he has room for improvement. What’s more, he’s in the mix with defending Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck to be the Team USA starter at the Olympics in February, and that will bring even more pressure to the season.

“It’s certainly in the back of my mind, and I think that’s a good thing,” Oettinger said. “It’s motivation, but so is winning here.”

New coach Glen Gulutzan said one of his main goals is to find a way to keep Oettinger fresh throughout the season. In addition to being one of the league’s workhorse goalies (fifth most games played among goalies over the past three seasons), Oettinger also is a huge key to the Stars having success in both the regular season and the playoffs. Dallas has lost in the Western Conference Final the past three years, and everyone is looking for a way to get over the hump.

“It’s definitely something we’re looking at,” said Gulutzan of pacing minutes for Oettinger. “We know it’s going to be a challenge.”

Oettinger said having a great backup in Casey DeSmith is a big help, and just one more reason why he is excited about the year. He was a member of Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off last season, so he understands the assignment. With his experience, he has a mindset that’s a little more calm than it was when he wanted to play every game.

“Every young guy wants to play as much as he can, but once you realize how long it is, and hopefully for this team we have a long playoff run ahead, then you know,” he said. “I need to pace myself and try to make sure I’m fresh.”

Asked how he learned that, he replied, “It’s just experience, knowing what a full season does to your body and mind.”

The body stuff seems to be under control, and now the mind has had a summer of strengthening, as well. Who knows, the big backstop from Minnesota might be in the perfect place in his career.

“In the long run, I feel like I’m going to look back on it as something that helped me,” Oettinger said of the turmoil. “And when we do win it all, it’s going to be, you know, look back and laugh and feel like that was something I had to go through in order to get to that.”

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on X @MikeHeika.