Stars designate Jack Williams as team’s EBUG for 2026-27

The Dallas Stars could be turning to a former golden domer in a pinch this upcoming season.

On Thursday, the Stars announced that they have named Jack Williams as their emergency backup goaltender (EBUG) for the 2026-27 season.

Due to the NHL’s new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), each team must have their own full-time emergency backup goalie on staff, ready to man the pipes in case all of the team’s dressed goaltenders become unavailable in a given game.

Williams, 25, becomes Dallas’ first full-time EBUG, and will be in attendance at all 84 of the Stars’ regular season games. If he does get called upon, he will don the number 00 as per the NHL’s rules for all EBUGs.

The NHL stipulates that EBUGs can’t have any NHL experience, 80 or fewer professional games in their career (and none in the past three seasons), and not be on a reserve list for an NHL team. Williams satisifies these requirements, but he has his fair share of competitive goaltending experience.

The St. Louis native had a four-year collegiate career for the University of Notre Dame. While he didn’t see much action at Notre Dame, he did make a total of eight appearances, posting a 0-1-1 record with a .877 save percentage and a 4.58 goals against average.

Before attending Notre Dame, Williams played three seasons in the United States Hockey League (USHL). In his final USHL season for the Waterloo Black Hawks in 2021-22, he went 11-11-1 with a .908 SV% and a 2.60 GAA.

The 6’3″, 190-pound Williams already had an existing, if indirect, connection to Dallas’ organization. He is the cousin of former NHL goaltender Ben Bishop, who played with the Stars from the 2017-18 season through the 2019-20 season.

Dallas will begin its preseason by visiting the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.