Dallas Stars weekly: Offically Gulutzan, Faksa, Blackwell, & Toby Petersen

Welcome to DLLS Dallas Stars weekly! Every week, I will recap news, rumors, notes, and articles from the previous seven days.

Let’s get into it.

Glen Gulutzan said all the right things

After multiple reports, the Stars made it official that Glen Gulutzan was returning as the new head coach of the Dallas Stars, his second shot at the role.

Gulutzan said all the right things in his intro press conferences and media appearances, including on the DLLS Stars show on Friday!

I especially loved Gulutzan’s approach to physicality and focus.

Gulutzan knows that the Stars don’t need to change everything. Sure, they have some weaknesses that were exposed in the Western Conference Final three years running. But they were also in the WCF three years running. They knocked off multiple Stanley Cup contenders after excellent regular seasons, even when the roster was decimated by injury. They were close.

Gulutzan is preaching a one percent change to the team’s overall play and physicality. He wants to see them harder on the forecheck, harder in front of their own net, going an extra step through bodies and hands, and simply being a bit harder to play against. While a lot of us hope it’s more like five or ten percent, it really is a great start.

Gulutzan also talks about being where your boots are… aka, staying present in the moment. I believe that could help Dallas reset and navigate the ups and downs of a long regular season, even though they obviously want to start back in the WCF with a third shot at Edmonton.

How Glen Gulutzan’s ‘Be where your boots are’ approach can help the Dallas Stars

Finally, I heard a lot of negativity from fans when Gulutzan was hired. I didn’t really understand that.

I get that it wasn’t the most exciting name or the fresh, new face like David Carle would’ve been. But it’s a coach who has gone through it and come out on the other side with his head up and lessons learned. A coach who has proven his worth. A coach who is familiar with this club and the position they are in. And most importantly to me, a coach who has that desire and motivation to get over a similar hump after losing in back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals with the Oilers.

Why I like the Dallas Stars adding Glen Gulutzan, Neil Graham & a couple 4th liners

I also didn’t understand some media members calling this a cheap hire or saying that general manager Jim Nill chose Gulutzan as a short-term option because they still have to pay Pete DeBoer for another season.

That’s a bunch of garbage. That’s not Jim Nill.

Nill wanted to move on from DeBoer. Nill wanted to hire Gulutzan. And Nill understands how important this hire is. This Dallas team is close. If they take a big step back, or even a medium-sized one, Nill and Gulutzan will both be under scrutiny. Yes, Nill has won GM of the Year three times in a row. But at some point, you have to win championships too. You don’t make a safe hire when you are facing that type of pressure. And Nill doesn’t play things safe. Ever.

I could rant on and on about this. But we have to save some things for the show. Let’s move on.

Welcome back, Toby

On Monday, the Texas Stars named Toby Petersen their next head coach to take over for Neil Graham, who was promoted to NHL assistant in Dallas.

Petersen played 398 NHL games, 243 with Dallas. He won the Calder Cup with Texas in 2014.

Welcome back to #TexasHockey, Toby!

We have named Toby Petersen Head Coach of the @TexasStars 🌟 pic.twitter.com/TDwDHAlixg

— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) July 7, 2025

Petersen spent six years as an assistant coach in the AHL and has recently worked as a skills coach with the Colorado Avalanche.

“We are pleased to name Toby as the head coach of the Texas Stars,” Nill said in a statement released by the team. “Toby brings over 22 years of professional hockey experience to the Stars bench. He has been successful as a player in both the NHL and AHL and has held coaching positions in both leagues. Toby understands what it takes to build and develop a championship-caliber team, as he has been part of winning a Calder Cup as a player and coach. Additionally, his familiarity with our organization is invaluable and will no doubt help us continue the culture that has been established in Cedar Park.”

Like Gulutzan up in Dallas, Petersen fits the mold of what they are trying to do in Cedar Park. He was a ninth-round draft pick who carved out a decent professional career and dealt with the back and forth from NHL to AHL quite often. He, like Jordie Benn, should be great for the group’s development just north of Austin.

It’s another reunion!

This is a common theme of the week, apparently, because we have yet another Dallas Stars reunion! After re-signing Colin Blackwell to a two-year, $775,000 AAV contract — a good move in my opinion — Dallas brought back a familiar face in Radek Faksa.

Faksa was a first-round draft pick for the Stars in 2012 and played nine seasons before being traded to the St. Louis Blues last summer, heading into the final year of his contract. Faksa signed a three-year, $2 million AAV contract with Dallas.

This was understandably met with some confusion, as Dallas brought back a fourth-line center, which they seem to have a few options for already — and did so for a price that put them nearly $2 million over the cap as I write this. But Nill isn’t worried about that and understands they have plenty of time to move someone like Matt Dumba or make space elsewhere.

I also think this move goes with Gulutzan preaching an increase in physicality and being tougher to play against.

Nill said the Stars missed Faksa in the playoffs last year, and that was pretty obviously true. The 31-year-old is big, strong, can win faceoffs, and is an excellent penalty killer. If you read my writing or listen to the DLLS Stars show, you probably know that I fully believe Dallas has enough skill already on its roster. It’s the grit and the pieces filling in around that skill that I want to see. I think Faksa is a great start to that.