Dallas Stars Come to Town with Some Familiar Faces

The Dallas Stars come to Sunrise tonight on pace for a record-breaking season as they are off to a 14-6-3 start.

They are led by some familiar faces.

Yes, the Stars feature a few players — and a head coach — who made their initial mark in the NHL with the Florida Panthers.

Pete DeBoer is in his second season behind the Dallas coach.

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Last season he took the Stars to the Western Conference finals where they lost to Vegas in 6.

DeBoer coached the Panthers from 2008-11 and it was his first NHL coaching job.

General manager Jacques Martin was tasked with finding his own replacement to coach the Panthers and landed DeBoer, a rising name in the junior ranks.

DeBoer, at the time of his hiring, had never coached a game in the NHL even as an assistant.

In his first season, he coached Florida to within a (since changed) tiebreaker of making the playoffs. Considering Florida had not made the postseason since 2000, that was a big deal.

DeBoer went 103-107-36 in three seasons with the Panthers.

Not long after being fired by Dale Tallon, DeBoer landed with the Devils — and he led them to the Final in his first year, a playoff run which started with a 7-game win over the Panthers.

DeBoer got his start in coaching under Paul Maurice; the two have remained close friends to this day.

Evgenii Dadonov played under DeBoer with the Panthers after he was drafted 71st overall in 2007.

Dadonov ended up playing two stints with the Panthers — returning in 2017 after refining his game in the KHL.

In his second run with the Panthers, Dadonov scored 81 goals in three seasons before not being re-signed by new GM Bill Zito and landing with the Ottawa Senators.

Mason Marchment spent five years as a farmhand in the Toronto organization when he was traded to the Panthers with little fanfare in exchange for Denis Malgin before the deadline in 2020.

Marchment made it to the Panthers in the Covid-shortened 2021 season where he recorded 10 points mostly playing within the bottom-6.

It was during the 2021-22 season where Marchment broke out, scoring 18 goals and 47 points in 54 games.

The highlight of his season was a two-goal, six-point performance against Columbus.

During that stretch he had six goals in four games.

Marchment certainly benefitted by playing on a line with Sam Reinhart and Anton Lundell.

The Panthers would have loved to keep him but did not have the cap room as he signed a four-year deal worth $4.5 million annually with the Stars.

His production with the Stars hasn’t matched his career year in Florida but he still has proven to be a solid and versatile forward.

ON DECK

DALLAS STARS AT FLORIDA PANTHERS

• When: Wednesday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• National TV/Streaming: TNT, HBO Max
• Radio: WAXY 790-AM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL app
• Last Season: Dallas won 2-0
• This Season — At Florida: Wednesday. At Dallas: March 12.
• All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 24-21-2, 3 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Friday vs. Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.