Oilers assistant coach Glen Gulutzan among candidates for Stars’ head coach vacancy

Stanley Cup Final or not, the offseason is nearly in full swing across the National Hockey League.

Just two teams remain vying for Lord Stanley’s Mug, the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers, and the former of them could be in line to lose an assistant coach this summer. That’s because of another coaching vacancy that opened up in recent days with the Dallas Stars firing head coach Pete DeBoer.

The Stars’ general manager will have some options, among them former Oilers head coaches Todd Nelson and Jay Woodcroft, as well as current assistant coach Glen Gulutzan, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported.

“Nil, because he has been around as long as he has been, has a lot of contacts out there,” Friedman said on Saturday’s edition of the 32 Thoughts podcast. Todd Nelson has been on the Dallas bench before. Jay Woodcroft, who went deep into coaching searches in Pittsburgh and Boston — Jim Nil knows him from his days in Detroit.

“I’m going to give you another name here, and this is a name i think will be a contender in this conversation and that’s Glen Gulutzan. Glen Gulutzan has been the head coach of the Dallas Stars before… I wouldn’t be surprised if he is part of this process. He’s had a lot of time to learn, he’s in a visible position here running the Edmonton power play.

“I just wouldn’t be surprised considering his history there and the visibility of his sport here if he’s someone they talk with as part of this.”

Gulutzan has been with the Oilers longer than he has anywhere else in his coaching career, with this being his seventh season as an assistant coach. He was brought on ahead of the 2018-19 season on Todd McLellan’s staff, and Kris Knoblauch marks the fifth head coach he’s worked with in Edmonton, including the likes of Ken Hitchcock, Dave Tippett and Woodcroft.

Prior to joining the Oilers, Gulutzan was head coach of the Calgary Flames for two years, and an assistant coach for three years with the Vancouver Canucks. His familiarity with the Stars organization date back to his time as the head coach of their AHL affiliate Texas Stars between 2019-10 and 2010-11, and head coach of the NHL Stars from 2011-12 to 2012-13.