The team was founded during the 1967 NHL expansion as the Minnesota North Stars, based in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Before the beginning of the 1978-79 NHL season, the league granted permission for the team to merge with the Cleveland Barons (formerly California Golden Seals) due to each team's respective financial struggles. The merged team kept the name and history of the Minnesota North Stars, while the Seals/Barons franchise records were retired.

The franchise relocated to Dallas for the 1993-94 NHL season. The Stars played out of Reunion Arena from their relocation until 2001, when the team moved less than 1.5 miles into the American Airlines Center.

Mike Modano is considered one of the most influential figures in popularizing hockey in Texas and the southern United States. He was drafted first overall by the North Stars in 1988, and after the team moved to Texas he helped the Stars win the Stanley Cup in 1999. Not only is he the Dallas Stars all-time leader in points (1,359), goals (557), and assists (802), he is the all-time goal-scoring and points leader amongst American-born players in NHL history.

In the 2005-06 season, Marty Turco won a career-best 41 games, eight of them in shootouts.

In the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals, the Stars, led by captain Derian Hatcher, head coach Ken Hitchcock, and goaltender Ed Belfou, defeated the Buffalo Sabres 4-2 to win their first Stanley Cup, becoming the eighth post-1967 expansion team to earn a championship, and the first Southern team to win the Cup.

Bill Masterton is the only player in NHL history to die as a direct result of injuries suffered during a game, the result of massive head trauma suffered following a hit during a January 13, 1968, contest against the Oakland Seals. Masterton's death sparked a long-running debate in hockey about the merits of wearing helmets, as few NHL players did so in that time. The North Stars retired his #19 jersey, an honor that followed the franchise when it later relocated to Dallas.

During the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals, Brett Hull scored one of the most controversial goals in NHL history. The league still had the "crease rule" in effect, stating that any player of the attacking team in the crease before the puck would nullify a goal. Hull had initially gained possession of the puck outside the crease and made a shot that was blocked by Buffalo goaltender Dominik Hasek. One of Hull's skates entered the crease as he corralled the rebound, and Hull's second shot scored the Cup-winning goal. After a lengthy review, the goal was allowed, as Hasek had blocked Hull's shot rather than catching it, leaving Hull with continuous possession of the puck from before his first shot outside the crease. The complexity of the crease rule, however, combined with the controversy arising from the disputed Stanley Cup-winning goal, resulted in the rule being repealed the following season.

Victor E. Green is a furry green alien with hockey sticks for antennas who comes from a galaxy far, far away. His name is a play on the Dallas Stars' team color Victory Green.

The Minnesota North Stars set an NHL record when 11 different players scored goals in a 15-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets. Bobby Smith recorded 7 points (4 goals and 3 assists) and Dino Ciccarelli added a goal and four assists. The win was the largest margin of victory in franchise history.