The Dallas Stars have another opening to fill on the coaching staff for next season.
Assistant coach Misha Donskov has taken a job with Hockey Canada as the VP of Hockey Operations and men’s national teams coach, a person familiar with the hire confirmed to The Dallas Morning News Friday.
Donskov will coach the men’s World Championship teams, be an associate coach at World Juniors and an assistant in the Olympics.
Stars GM Jim Nill expressed an intention to retain all of the Stars assistant coaches after firing Pete DeBoer earlier this month, but Donskov is now the second assistant to leave. Steve Spott also departed Dallas for an assistant job in Boston.
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But Donskov was a candidate to leave Dallas this offseason long before DeBoer was fired.
The Stars’ assistant for the last two years was a rumored candidate for the Boston Bruins head coaching job before they opted to hire Marco Sturm. He’s seen as a rising star in the profession.
Donskov was the only non-head coach to serve on Team Canada’s staff for the 4 Nations Face-Off, running pre-scout on opponents. That’s the same role he’s held for the Stars on DeBoer’s staff the last two seasons.
The 48-year-old has only been behind the bench in the NHL for a few years, though. When DeBoer became head coach of the Vegas Golden Knights in 2020, Donskov was the director of hockey operations and analytics, focusing on more scouting and administrative work. But DeBoer moved him behind the bench, where he has been ever since.
After DeBoer was fired by the Golden Knights, Donskov remained on Bruce Cassidy’s staff where he won the Stanley Cup in 2023 before he was recruited to join DeBoer’s staff in Dallas the following year.
The Stars still need to fill their head coaching vacancy in addition to the two assistant openings, which will likely be determined by the new head coach. Defensive coach Alain Nasreddine and goaltenders coach Jeff Reese remain with the Stars.
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