When the 2022-23 Dallas Stars season ended with a Game 6 Western Conference Final defeat at the hands of the Vegas Golden Knights, goaltender Jake Oettinger had a lot on his plate.
Not only did Oettinger and Dallas feel they could have won the Stanley Cup, but the goalie was also dealing with an aggravating ankle injury that hindered his play throughout the entire season.
The injury lingered after the season, enough to force Oettinger into required surgery. The procedure went well, but the recovery took away most of his offseason training, as the young goalie was unable to get back on the ice until close to training camp.
The result was far from catastrophic, but Oettinger did have the worst statistical season of his career, finishing 35-14-4 with a .905 save percentage and 2.72 goals-against average. He was solid in the playoffs, despite being outplayed by Stuart Skinner in the conference final. But Oettinger will be the first to tell you that he could’ve been better.
Fast forward to June 2. Oettinger and the Stars had once again fallen in Game 6 of the WCF, this time to the Edmonton Oilers. But the 25-year-old finished the season fully healthy. Rather than carrying the disappointment of coming up short AND dealing with an injury, surgery and recovery, Oettinger was able to decompress and simply focus on getting better over the summer.
“It’s been great,” Oettinger said. “Everything I do this summer, I feel like I’m already ahead of the game compared to last summer. Trying to basically play catch up all summer last summer and work around injuries. The fact that I’m 100 percent healthy and can do all the things that I want to do… I feel like I’m light-years ahead of where I was last summer.
“I love the offseason. Training and skating and working on my body… I’m really into that type of stuff. So last summer was really hard… A lot of stuff I couldn’t do. I’m an active person anyway, so all of the other stuff that comes with being a normal person, I couldn’t do any of that stuff either. So it’s just been a great summer.”
The great summer has been nowhere near a normal one for Oettinger. The Minnesota native got married at the end of June, went on a honeymoon, and recently returned from his sister’s wedding in August.
One area that has felt normal, however, has been his training. Despite the recent injuries and ankle surgery, Oettinger was finally able to get back to his routine.
“Not really, which is a good thing,” he said when asked if he had to adjust his training. “I can just go full boar like normal, like I had been in college and the years prior. I don’t have to work around anything or stay away from doing certain things, which is a great feeling.”
One word to describe the summer is a reset. A reset physically and mentally and a chance for Oettinger to prepare himself for what he hopes is the best season of his career.
“Last year, I felt like I was behind and trying to play catch up,” he said. “This year, I just feel so much more confident in the work that I put in, and all of the stuff that I’ve done for my body and my game this summer. Gives you a sense of confidence coming into camp being in great shape and not having to feel like the first three or four weeks of training camp you’re trying to catch up with the guys that have been able to work all summer to get to where they are.
“Anyone that has dealt with an injury all summer and then finally getting back to normal the next summer, they’ll tell you it’s one of the best feelings in the world.”
The Stars should once again be a Stanley Cup contender in 2024-25. So for Oettinger, this full reset will help.
Once he gets to camp, it will be a full-speed push to get acquainted with new backup goalie Casey DeSmith, build chemistry with a handful of new defensemen and get to the top of his game before Dallas opens the season at Nashville on Oct. 10.
