Nill, DeBoer 'write a new chapter' for the Stars

The Stars had one of the best seasons in franchise history in 2023-24, and that’s what made the ending so disappointing.

Dallas tallied 113 points in the regular season, second in franchise history only to the 114 collected by the 1998-99 team that won the Stanley Cup. It had 52 wins, second only to the 53 for the 2005-06 Stars. It knocked off defending Cup champion Vegas in the First Round and took care of Colorado (the 2022 champs) in the Second Round.

And then, when it was favored and had home ice, Dallas lost to Edmonton in six games and missed out on a chance to return to the Stanley Cup Final for the sixth time in franchise history.

And that hurt.

“Last year was probably one of the harder years for us. When we lost that Game 6 in Edmonton, that stung,” Stars GM Jim Nill said Wednesday as the team held Media Day in preparation for Thursday’s opening of training camp. “The path we took the whole year, what we went through to get there, the games we played against Edmonton, it could have gone either way. That’s how fine the line is.”

It’s something the team has marinated over in the offseason, and something that could be a driving force in 2024-25. Coach Pete DeBoer is back for his third season at the helm, and while he said you can’t stew on the loss, you also have to acknowledge it.

“I think it’s always important to have perspective on what was accomplished and the work that went into it. Only one team is happy at the end of the year, but there were a lot of things to be proud of with our group and how they played and some of the adversity we overcame. Having said that, it’s on this year’s group to, one, make sure we put ourselves in the position to get back there again and, two, if we do, make sure we are better than we were at that point.”

The Stars have made some changes to their roster; watching Joe Pavelski retire, buying out Ryan Suter, trading Radek Faksa and Ty Dellandrea, while adding free agents Matt Dumba, Ilya Lyubushkin, Brendan Smith and Colin Blackwell. They are still led by a talented group of 20-somethings who should be getting better, and they maintain a group of veterans led by Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin and Matt Duchene, who add both scoring and leadership. So bottom line, they have the ability to compete again for the Stanley Cup, but it’s still a process that takes all season.

“I think this year’s mentality has to be [that] we’ve been to two final fours, don’t take that for granted, it’s a really hard road and there was a lot of work put in to get to that point. And you don’t get to start where you finished. There are 32 teams that have all gotten better over the summer. Everybody is trying to close the gap. You have to start at the bottom again and start the climb, and it’s not an easy climb. You have to embrace the work that goes into giving yourself an opportunity.”

On the good side, the Stars seem to have a roster in its prime built on the strength of good drafting. Among the leaders are Roope Hintz, 27, Miro Heiskanen, 25, Jason Robertson, 25, Jake Oettinger, 25, Thomas Harley, 23, and Wyatt Johnston, 21. Those players should all be getting better. In addition, they have young, drafted players like Logan Stankoven, Mavrik Bourque, and Lian Bichsel, who are just getting their feet wet and should also have significant improvement ahead of them.

But they did lose defenseman Chris Tanev in free agency, and they were especially healthy last season, and that’s why Nill and DeBoer are cautious.

“In the dressing room, we have to have the mentality that’s it’s going to be hard, that it’s going to be tougher,” Nill said. “This is going to be a challenging year, but we start from Day 1. We have a good team, a good core, so away we go.”

Nill said he is excited about the process. The front office signed contract extensions for Esa Lindell (five year at $5.25 million) and Harley (two years at $4 million), and that was important business to get done. Those two defensemen help give DeBoer, what he calls, the deepest defense since he’s been here. And while Robertson will miss training camp after having surgery to remove a cyst from his foot, the absence of Dallas’ leading scorer opens the door for younger players trying to fight for a spot on the NHL roster. With Robertson, the Stars only have 12 forwards penciled into spots, and that includes Stankoven and Bourque, which means there is an opening for players to bounce between the AHL and NHL.

Among the candidates are Matěj Blümel, who had 62 points for the Texas Stars last season, Arttu Hyry, a 23-year-old free agent signed from Finland, and depth forwards like Oskar Bäck, Antonio Stranges and Chase Wheatcroft.

“I’m like everybody else, I’m going to sit and watch,” said Nill, who spent the weekend in Traverse City, Michigan watching the team’s prospects compete. “In the end, the players will decide. If they can help you win, and they’re playing every night, they’ll be up on the roster. If not, they need to play games [in the AHL].”

The Stars have more wiggle room on the salary cap this season, depending on whether they keep 13 or 14 forwards, and that should make it easier to call up players and give them a glimpse of the NHL. That’s another thing that could make this season better. If they have more cap space, the opportunity is there to make decisions that benefit younger players.

That said, the core of the team is in place, it is familiar with one another, and it should be ready to battle for the Central Division title no matter how camp goes. But DeBoer cautions that you can’t just show up and expect to be as good as last season.

“Every year you have a chance to write a new chapter,” he said. “It’s a new group, it’s never the same team, it just isn’t, and every year your team gets a chance to start fresh and write a new chapter in the history of the organization. That’s exciting for me.”

And yet, you are also building on what came before.

“That’s all part of being a pro,” DeBoer said. “You’ve got to use that as fuel to drive you forward this season. There’s no better example than the Florida Panthers. They lost to Vegas and then used that as fuel to drive them this year. That’s our challenge.”

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 Twitter @MikeHeika.