The Florida Panthers hired Paul Maurice as head coach, the club announced Wednesday. His three-year contract with the Panthers is worth just under $4 million per season, sources told The Athletic.
Maurice, 55, was previously the head coach of the Winnipeg Jets. He coached the franchise for nearly nine full seasons before resigning partway through the 2021-22 campaign. Maurice said the resignation was his decision and he felt the Jets needed a new voice. Maurice has also coached the Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes franchise and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
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"At the completion of our season, we began an in-depth examination of all aspects of our team. After taking the appropriate amount of time for analysis, we determined that we needed the perfect fit to continue with the growth of our players and stay on the path for our franchise goals," Florida general manager Bill Zito said in a release. "Paul's experience and intellect were just what we were looking for and we are thrilled for him to step into the role of head coach."
Maurice succeeds Andrew Brunette, who served as interim head coach for the Panthers. Brunette could still remain in the organization, sources told The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun, but his future is unclear. Brunette took over for Joel Quenneville, who resigned for his role in the Blackhawks sexual assault scandal involving a video coach and former draft pick Kyle Beach.
Brunette had a 51-18-6 record with the Panthers, helping them win the Presidents' Trophy and achieve their greatest regular season. The 48-year-old was even nominated for the Jack Adams Award for coach of the year.
The Panthers, however, were swept in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
(Photo: James Carey Lauder / USA Today)
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Ates: What can Panthers expect from Paul Maurice as head coach?
Why didn’t Brunette get the job?
Michael Russo, senior writer: It’ll be the biggest question for general manager Bill Zito when he meets with the media because it’s not often the coach of the best regular-season team in the league and a Jack Adams finalist, after being thrust into such an unenviable position at the start of the year, wouldn’t be retained.
But the Panthers were beaten handily by their cross-state rival Tampa Bay Lightning during a four-game, second-round sweep and that disappointment and Brunette’s handling of the series had to play a part.
Brunette has another year on his contract. He’s got to be incredibly disappointed with the way this unfolded and Florida’s handling of the situation.
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The question now: Does he return to being something like associate coach or will he ask Zito permission to talk to other teams with a number of coaching vacancies out there?
Is Maurice a good fit for the Panthers?
Murat Ates, Jets beat writer: From a certain angle, every head coach should be a good fit with the Panthers.
The best team Maurice ever coached was the 2017-18 Winnipeg Jets, whose 114 points still fall short of the 122 point, Presidents' Trophy-winning season Florida just put together.
The Panthers are returning most of the spectacular core which won 58 games last season. Make no mistake: This gig is good. Maurice's biggest strengths are generating buy-in from star, veteran players, adapting best practices from around the league to suit the skills he has at his disposal.
I wouldn't rate him with the Barry Trotzes of the world on a tactical front, nor am I convinced he had the answers when Winnipeg's roster lost Dustin Byfuglien (and others) — but he's a good coach and probably an excellent one with a team with Florida's depth and breadth of talent.
I believe he can find ways to leverage Aleksander Barkov's all-around skill set and to maximize Jonathan Huberdeau's offence while mitigating some of the defensive liabilities.
Maurice's biggest challenge, based on recent work in Winnipeg, will be to push the offense from his suddenly star-studded defensive corps. The Jets' neutral-zone attack didn't have the variety of looks that the NHL's elite teams did but they didn't have Aaron Ekblad, MacKenzie Weegar, and more, either.