The Dallas Stars have begun to fill out their staff behind the bench for the 2025-26 season.
Shortly after Dallas announced Glen Gulutzan’s return as head coach, the Stars announced the list of assistants that will support him, highlighted by the promotion of AHL head coach Neil Graham.
Graham, who spent the past six seasons as the head coach of the Texas Stars and interviewed for the opening at the NHL level, joins Gulutzan’s staff as an assistant.
“We are pleased to have the opportunity to add Neil to our coaching staff in Dallas,” Dallas general manager Jim Nill said in a statement.
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“Neil has spent over a decade as part of the Dallas Stars organization behind the bench in Texas and Idaho proving at every level his ability to coach. His hockey acumen has made him one of the most sought-after young coaches in professional hockey.”
Graham has been in the Stars organization for the last 13 seasons. He started as an assistant for the Idaho Steelheads (the Stars’ ECHL affiliate) in 2012 before being promoted to their head coach in 2015. He then became an assistant for the Texas Stars (the Stars’ AHL affiliate) in 2019 and was promoted to head coach later that season.
Now, Graham is making his NHL coaching debut.
Graham is responsible for developing core pieces of Dallas’ current roster including Jake Oettinger, Jason Robertson, Thomas Harley, Lian Bichsel, Oskar Bäck and Mavrik Bourque.
The new coaching staff also includes the returning Alain Nasreddine (assistant coach), who also interviewed to be the Stars’ head coach, Jeff Reese (goaltending coach), Patrick Dolan (head video coach) and Chris Demczuk (assistant video coach).
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