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Dallas Stars Daily Links: The Bowness Question

Posted on by Tyler Mair

There’s arguably no bigger storyline this Dallas Stars offseason than what the team will do with Rick Bowness. The head coach’s contract has expired, and now general manager Jim Nill has to decide on what the future holds for their coaching staff.

As a whole, the team seems to view this season as a success, despite the first round exit:

“He’s handled it, done a great job, the players respect him, he’s handled the situation very well,” Nill said. “We had 98 points this year. That’s a pretty good year, so he’s done a good job.”

…

“Listen, we all know the scoring has to improve, but the chances for improved and zone time and all of the metrics improved,” Bowness said at exit interviews. “The bottom line is this: We had 98 points, got to the playoffs, we took that team to overtime in Game 7. That’s what matters. The rest? Yeah, we have to fix some things and we can improve on some things, absolutely, but so can every other team.

That doesn’t necessarily dictate Bowness will get extended, however. Ultimately, the decision may come down to owner Tom Gaglardi, who will have to decide whether or not “good” is “good enough:”

Over the course of those 176 games with Bowness as the head coach, the Stars are a bottom-10 team offensively, with 2.76 goals per game, and a top-10 team defensively at 2.80 goals against per game… The job of a head coach is to make adjustments, and that’s perhaps where Bowness has been lacking the most.

You can read more from Saad Yousuf here.

Stars Stories

Stars Prospect Wyatt Johnston continues to collect more hardware:

When the dust settles on the NHL 2021 draft, Johnston may very well be the biggest steal:

Well this is fun:

Around the League

More updates from the second round:

  • The Tampa Bay Lightning have a 2-0 series lead after a last-second 2-1 win over the Florida Panthers. [Raw Charge]
  • Meanwhile the St. Louis Blues evened their series with by beating the Colorado Avalanche 4-1. [Mile High Hockey]/

Yeah, it wasn’t pretty:

Moving on, here’s a look ahead to today’s action:

Joel Hanley stands at the top of DownGoesBrown’s season predictions review:

The King Clancy is the latest award finalists reveal:

Shayna Goldman breaks down the major Trade Deadline acquisitions and whether or not they were worth it:

Hockey is for Everyone

Checking will now be legal in the Swedish Women’s Hockey League this upcoming season.

Here’s a Q&A with the new commissioner of the PHF:

Finally, 15-year old Chloe Primerano is the first female player to ever be drafted by a CHL team:

Talking Points