https://www.dmagazine.com/sports/2025/07/stars-gulutzan-nill-deboer-hire/
For starters, this is a far bolder hire than people want to acknowledge. Nill pushed for this coaching change, not owner Tom Gaglardi, and while Nill has goodwill with ownership—he has been named the NHL’s GM of the Year three straight seasons—he’s taking some considerable risk in removing a coach who had a better track record than everyone except DeBoer’s old friend Paul Maurice, who has led the Florida Panthers to the last two Stanley Cups. As Robert Tiffin noted on Monday, he’s taking an even greater one by replacing that coach with a man he happened to fire a dozen years ago in one of his first acts as general manager.
“Honestly, this tells me a lot about Jim,” one NHL executive said in a text. “He’s willing to hire someone he fired for the same job. In this league, that never happens. You might get a second chance with the same organization, but never with the same GM. Most GMs don’t have the ego to ever be willing to go back and bring someone back like Dallas is now.”