The merger brought with it a number of talented players, and the North Stars were revived—they reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 1981, where they lost in five games to the New York Islanders.

However, by the early 1990s, declining attendance and the inability to secure a new downtown revenue-generating arena led ownership to request permission to move the team to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1990.

In 1993, amid further attendance woes and bitter personal controversy, Green obtained permission from the league to move the team to Dallas, for the 1993–94 season, with the decision announced on March 10, 1993.

[9] Green, who had run into financial problems stemming from his business ventures outside of ice hockey, was forced to sell the team to businessman Tom Hicks in December 1995.

In the off-season, the Stars traded for former Montreal Canadiens' captain and three-time Frank J. Selke Trophy winner Guy Carbonneau, who was then with the St. Louis Blues.

The Stars then traded for Benoit Hogue from the Toronto Maple Leafs late in the season, but ultimately finished in sixth place in the Central Division, missing the playoffs for the first time since moving to Texas.

[10] In the 1996 off-season, the Stars continued to revamp their roster, adding defensemen Darryl Sydor from the Los Angeles Kings followed by Sergei Zubov from the Pittsburgh Penguins for Kevin Hatcher.

Defenseman Grant Ledyard tripped in overtime of game 7, allowing Todd Marchant to score the game- and series-winning goal on a breakaway against goaltender Andy Moog.

However, without Nieuwendyk, the Stars lacked the firepower to overcome the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings in the conference finals and lost in six games.

With the prospect of missing the playoffs, the Stars traded 1999 Conn Smythe winner Joe Nieuwendyk and Jamie Langenbrunner to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Randy McKay and Jason Arnott, who scored the game-winning goal in the 2000 Finals against Dallas.

However, the Stars' dreams of a return trip to the Stanley Cup Finals would end in heartbreaking fashion as the Ducks broke a 3–3 tie with 1:06 left in game 6 on a goal by defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh.

Coming out of the owners' lockout that cancelled the entire 2004–05 season, the Stars remained one of the strongest teams in the Western Conference for the start of 2005–06, as they won four of their first five games on the way to a solid October.

The Stars also received Patrik Stefan and Jaroslav Modry in the Atlanta trade, and signed Eric Lindros, Jeff Halpern, Matthew Barnaby and Darryl Sydor as free agents.

On November 8, 2007, Mike Modano became the top American born point scorer of all time, finishing off a shorthanded breakaway opportunity on San Jose Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov.

[20] The Stars rallied to a final record of 45–30–7 and qualified for the playoffs as the fifth seed, matching up with the defending Stanley Cup champion, the Anaheim Ducks, in the first round.

Modano subsequently signed with his hometown team, the Detroit Red Wings while Turco joined the newly defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks.

The team also made key acquisitions both in trades or in free agency, such as winger Adam Burish (who was on the 2010 Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks) and goaltender Andrew Raycroft.

Vancouver businessman and Kamloops Blazers owner Tom Gaglardi's bid was the only one submitted, clearing the way for him to enter the final stages of taking over ownership of the team.

Beginning on March 26, 2012, the Stars embarked on a western road trip that saw them visit the Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Canucks and San Jose Sharks.

[41] In the 2015 off-season the Stars made a couple additions to the team, first trading with the Chicago Blackhawks for three-time Stanley Cup champion Patrick Sharp as well as defenseman Stephen Johns in exchange for Trevor Daley and Ryan Garbutt.

Going into the 2019–20 season, the Stars added veteran forwards Joe Pavelski from the San Jose Sharks and Corey Perry of the Anaheim Ducks in free agency on July 1, 2019.

"[44] General manager Jim Nill said the situation had come to light the previous weekend, and involved "a material act of unprofessionalism" egregious enough to demand Montgomery's immediate firing.

[48] The NHL returned from the March 2020 abrupt regular season stoppage three weeks before completion due to the COVID-19 pandemic a little under five months later in August 2020, where the Stars advanced to the playoffs.

The Stars would rebound in the 2021–22 season with a 98-point 46–30–6 record, good enough for the first wild-card spot and seventh seed in the Western Conference playoffs where they played the Pacific Division-champion and second-seeded Calgary Flames in the first round.

[59] Led by their trio of veteran forwards Tyler Seguin, Joe Pavelski, and captain Jamie Benn, as well as the emergence of a young core of players including netminder Jake Oettinger, forwards Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz, and Wyatt Johnston, and defenseman Miro Heiskanen, the Stars completed their first season under Peter DeBoer with a 108-point 47–21–14 regular season record, just barely being beat out by the Colorado Avalanche by one point for the 2022–23 Central Division title.

[71] The next season saw the Stars clinch their fourth Central Division title and finished as the top seed in the Western Conference and placed second in the League overall as the runner up for the Presidents' Trophy, only behind the New York Rangers.

Before the 2001–02 NHL season, both the Stars and the Mavericks moved into the new American Airlines Center, which is in the Victory Park neighborhood of Dallas, just north of Reunion Arena.

Fornes left the broadcast team after the 1995–96 season; Strangis moved to the play-by-play role and color commentator Daryl "Razor" Reaugh was added.

The home black jersey, introduced for the 2007–08 season, features the player's number on the chest and an arched 'Dallas' in white with gold trim, with the primary logo on the shoulders.

The Stars unveiled a special edition uniform for the 2020 Winter Classic, featuring a design inspired from the defunct Dallas Texans of the United States Hockey League (USHL).