Source - Dallas Stars closing in on deal to hire Peter DeBoer as coach

The Dallas Stars are closing in on a contract with Peter DeBoer to make him their next coach, a source told ESPN on Monday, confirming multiple reports.

The news was first reported by TSN.

DeBoer, 54, fired by the Vegas Golden Knights at the end of the regular season, will inherit a young team that advanced to the Western Conference playoffs as the first wild-card entry before losing to the Calgary Flames in seven games.

The Stars will be the fifth NHL franchise to employ DeBoer as coach, and he led two of them — the New Jersey Devils (2012) and the San Jose Sharks (2016) — to the Stanley Cup Finals. He has 513 career regular-season wins behind NHL benches and has led teams to the postseason seven times.

But his tenure in Vegas was a rocky one, and the injury-riddled Golden Knights failed to make the postseason this year despite having several high-priced forwards — including star center Jack Eichel, acquired from the Buffalo Sabres in November — on the roster.

The Golden Knights, who had never failed to qualify for the playoffs in their five-year history, finished 43-31-8 with 94 points, watching the Stars and Nashville Predators secure the West's two wild-card berths in the regular season's final week.

In the team's end-of-season media availability on May 4, DeBoer was adamant about hoping to stay in Vegas, saying «I want to be back. I want to coach this team.»

He was fired two weeks later, and Vegas replaced him last week with former Boston Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. It took a bit of time, but Dallas general manager Jim Nill eventually swooped in and signed DeBoer.

«The reality of this season, and what I'll look back 10 years from now, is going to be 500-man games lost, that bled into everything we did,» DeBoer said