Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill confirmed Friday that Pete DeBoer's postgame comments about goaltender Jake Oettinger played a role in the head coach's firing.
"The events that took place, that's a component of it," Nill said. "But there's other things that take place also. It's one part of it, but there's other things that take place during the season. My job is to analyze everything during the year, where things are at, even the prior years ... it was a component of it. But it wasn't the final decision when we made this decision."
DeBoer pulled Oettinger after he allowed two goals on the first two shots he faced in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final versus the Edmonton Oilers. The veteran bench boss explained his reasoning after the Stars lost the contest, pointing to his star goaltender's shaky record against Edmonton in the playoffs.
"I didn't blame it all on Jake, but the reality is, if you go back to last year's playoffs, he's lost six of seven games to Edmonton," DeBoer said. "And we give up two (goals) on two (shots) in an elimination game. It was partly to spark our team and wake them up, and partly knowing that (the) status quo had not been working. That's a pretty big sample size."
Nill made it clear he didn't have an issue with DeBoer's decision to pull Oettinger.
"I got no problem with the pull, at all," Nill said. "If you're coaching, just let two goals in, you gotta change momentum in that. To change the goalie, I've got no problem with that at all."
Nill did, however, feel DeBoer mishandled things postgame.
"I think everybody (had an issue with DeBoer's comments)," Nill said. "I think even Pete, a little bit remorseful of it, a little bit. I don't think he handled it the way he wanted to. But you gotta remember you're under the duress, the pressure of everything going on in that."
DeBoer lost in the conference finals in all three of his seasons as head coach of the Stars, and Nill realizes that making it that far again is a success despite the disappointment of failing to reach the Cup Final again.
"It's an amazing business. We got to the third round, and it feels like we've missed the playoffs five years in a row," Nill said. "I find it amazing that mindset, but that's the world we live in nowadays."
Nill plans on retaining DeBoer's assistants, each of which have one year left on their contract. He added that he'll look both internally and externally for head coaching candidates, and experience isn't a prerequisite.
The veteran executive also backed DeBoer on his way out of Dallas.
"Pete's gonna win a Cup," Nill said. "Unfortunately, it won't be here. But he's gonna win a Cup. He's a good coach. And I think he learns every time. He's been fired a few times. I think he's learning each time when that happens."
