DeBoer's teams have a history of balancing offense and defense. In his three seasons in Vegas, the Golden Knights were 11th in scoring at 3.27 and seventh in goals against at 2.75. They were second in shots on goal at 34.0 and fourth in shots against at 29.0. That's a huge difference from Dallas, which had a shot differential of plus 0.3 per game.
Will it work for the Stars? They're excited about trying to get better.
"Every coach is different," captain Jamie Benn said. "I thought we were great under Lindy [Ruff] with the way we played offensively, I think we were great under [Jim Montgomery and Rick Bowness] with how we played defensively. [Ken Hitchcock] was kind of a happy medium, and I think we're going to find a better balance with Pete and the way he likes his teams to play."
One of DeBoer's first tasks is naming a group of assistant coaches, and he'll have complete autonomy in doing that. Goalie coach Jeff Reese and video coaches Kelly Forbes and Matt Rodell are staying, so the new assistants will replace John Stevens, Todd Nelson and Derek Laxdal. DeBoer said one of his requirements to take the job was that Nill be around. The veteran GM has one year left on his contract but said that he and the ownership group are working on an extension.
"I'm working on that with [owner] Tom [Gaglardi]," Nill said. "My job is to worry about today and to worry about the franchise in the future, so I'm working on a succession plan for Tom that's 3, 4, 5, 6 years down the road. I'll be a part of that, I'll be the GM here for a few more years, but that's what I'm working on right now."