Since the Dallas Stars have been eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they have many questions to answer, one of them being who will be the new head coach of the Dallas Stars. Last week, it was announced that Rick Bowness would step aside paving the way for a new chapter of Dallas Stars Hockey. Here are some of the names being floated around currently to fill the role of the new head coach of the Dallas Stars.
Dallas Stars Coaching Candidates: 1. Rick Tocchet- NHL Analyist
Rick Tocchet almost became the head coach of the Dallas Stars midway through the season. According to The Hockey News Reporter Adam Proteau, Jim Nill was already in talks with Rick Tocchet to take over at the All-Star Break. Both parties were unable to come to an agreement on a new deal so Nill stuck with Bowness for the remainder of the year. Don’t be shocked if Nill and his friend “rekindle” negotiations this summer.
Dallas Stars Coaching Candidates: 2. Jeff Halpern- Tampa Bay Lightning Assistant Coach
Jon Cooper gets a lot of the credit for the success of the Lightning over the last 3 seasons as they are eight games away from creating a dynasty. What Stars fans don’t know is that Former Dallas Stars player and assistant coach Jeff Halpern deserves some of the credit for their success. He’s turned their power play into one of the best in the NHL and would be a great candidate to at least interview for the job.
Dallas Stars Coaching Candidates: 3. Marc Savard- Windsor Spitfires Head Coach
This would be an interesting hire cause he doesn’t really have any experience as a head coach in the NHL. The reason why his name is surfacing is because of all the success that he has had coaching the Windsor Spitfires in the Ontario Hockey League. He also coaches one of the top 5 Stars prospects and has turned him into an offensive weapon this past season.
Dallas Stars Coaching Candidates: 4. Rikard Grönborg- ZSC Lions hockey coach
An international head coach that has been floated around several team vacancies is Rikard Grönborg who coaches the ZSC Lions in Switzerland right now. You can add him to the outside-the-box hires list as Nill is looking for more than likely someone with NHL coaching experience. Considering his name is floating around other team’s vacancies, can’t hurt to interview him.
Dallas Stars Coaching Candidates: 5. Sergei Zubov and Jere Lehtinen-Former Dallas Stars players
The reason why I’m bringing up both of these names as honorable mentions is it would be cool to have a former player come back and coach the team they played for. Both of these guys were here when the Dallas Stars went on to win the Stanley Cup back in 1999. They both know what it takes to get to the Stanley Cup Finals and win the cup.
Lehtinen also has coached over in Finland and told the Stars about Joel Kiviranta. He could also help the Stars find international gems since he knows the international scene over there currently.
Any of the names mentioned above could be the Dallas Stars’ next head coach. This coaching hiring Jim Nill has in front of him could extend or finish his time here in Dallas as the General Manager. Expect him to take all the time he needs before the NHL Draft coming up this summer.