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May 17, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) shakes hands with Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) after the Stars defeat the Jets in the overtime period in game six of the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Dallas Stars 2025-26 Goaltender Preview

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Marc Sautter | Last updated Oct 9, 2025 5:55 PM ET

The long wait is over! We finally have Dallas Stars hockey, and it all starts tonight against the Winnipeg Jets north of the border.

To celebrate, we are wrapping up our Dallas Stars season previews with the goaltenders. Let’s dive in.

Jake Oettinger Is Set for a Big Season

Entering training camp, there were a handful of teams where there was no debate or competition as to who the number-one goaltender would be come opening night, and the Stars were one of those teams. Entering his sixth season with the Stars, with a brand new eight-year contract, Jake Oettinger will take the ice as the go-to guy.

For Oettinger, there are plenty of reasons to be excited about a new season. For starters, we all remember how the playoffs ended. Former head coach Pete DeBoer pulled Oettinger in the first period of Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals after the Stars went down 2-0 quite quickly against the Edmonton Oilers. After another flat start for his team, DeBoer called a timeout, and Oettinger was skating back to the net, DeBoer yelled out at Oettinger and brought him back to the bench to make way for Casey DeSmith. It was a very dramatic moment, and it was a talking point all offseason. There’s been a lot of debate on whether he deserved to be pulled, but regardless, you know he is ready to kick off another campaign and leave all of that behind him.

Another debate that has been hot this summer is whether or not Oettinger is a top-five goalie in the NHL. The 26-year-old is 149-66-27 in his career, with a .912 save percentage (SV%) and a 2.52 goals against average (GAA). Last season, Oettinger was 36-18-4, with a .909 SV% and a 2.59 GAA. Compared to goaltenders with at least 50 games played, Oettinger was third in wins and ninth in SV% and GAA. However, similar to the Stars as a whole, Oettinger is at the point in his young career where more attention will be paid to what he does in the playoffs, rather than the regular season.

In 18 playoff games, Oettinger had a .905 SV% and a 2.82 GAA. While there is no mistake that his brilliance was a big reason why his team went to a third-straight Western Conference Final, it was clear that he was fading down the stretch. So the question has to be asked: Is he being overworked in the regular season, or were his playoff issues more defense related than anything else? Oettinger played in 58 regular-season games, which put him in a five-way tie for fourth in the NHL. Every goalie wants to play more, but it will be interesting to see how new head coach Glen Gulutzan approaches this as the season goes on.

Casey DeSmith Is as Steady a Backup as There Is

Some goalies play 50-plus games a season simply because their backup goaltender cannot be trusted, and that has been true in the NHL for a long, long time. However, that is not the case in Dallas. Oettinger is a top-tier netminder in this league, and you want a guy like that between the pipes as often as possible. The luxury for the Stars, however, is that their backup goalie is as steady and reliable as it gets. When Oettinger does need a break, they know they have a guy who can fill in without any concern.

In 2024-25, DeSmith was 14-8-2 with a .915 SV% and a 2.59 GAA. Sure, there was a clunker or two mixed in, but for the most part, he delivered what his team needed to keep them in the game and give them a chance to win.

An interesting aspect to this season is the 2026 Winter Olympics, which will be taking place in February. Right now, Oettinger is a likely candidate to be a backup to Connor Hellebuyck on Team USA. However, it’s not unfathomable for Oettinger to play himself in a position to be the starter. If that does happen, it is also not unfathomable for DeSmith to need to carry a little bit more of the load after the Olympic break. Luckily for the Stars, if that were to be the case, they have a backup goalie they can trust to get the job done.

No Need to Worry About Goaltending

There’s been a lot of conversation about how the Stars fill the holes that Mikael Granlund and Mason Marchment left, even though Marchment didn’t leave that hole by choice. There’s a lot of conversation about how Nils Lundkvist will fare defensively. There’s also a lot of conversation about this team as a whole with a new boss behind the bench.

However, there is no need for questions or conversations concerning the dependability of the goaltenders. These two guys are as predictable as it gets, and for a team that has nothing left to prove besides winning a Stanley Cup, that is a great, great thing.