Bolts GM BriseBois confirms head coach Cooper will return next season
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Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois confirmed on Friday that head coach Jon Cooper will be back behind the bench next season.
Cooper is the longest tenured coach in the NHL, having spent the past 13 seasons with Tampa Bay.
"Coop will be back because A) he's an outstanding coach. 2) More importantly, he's the best coach for this job. 3) I really enjoy working with him," said BriseBois on Friday. "I am appreciative and grateful for our partnership, and I expect it to go on for many years to come, regardless of how many years he's got left on his contract. When this contract ends, my expectation is he's gonna sign another one and he's gonna be here for awhile."
The Lightning are coming off a first-round postseason exit in five games at the hands of the reigning Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers. This is the third straight season the Lightning have been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
Cooper, who took over as head coach of the Lightning in March of 2013 after the firing of Guy Boucher, has coached in 961 regular-season games for Tampa Bay, going 572-306-83.
Cooper coached the Lightning to back-to-back Stanley Cup titles in 2020 and 2021, with two other Finals appearances in 2015 and 2022.
He was a Jack Adams Award finalist twice for NHL coach of the year in 2013-14 and 2018-19.
Internationally, Cooper coached Canada to gold at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February and will be the head coach for Canada at the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics.
Previously, Cooper coached in the United States Hockey League, leading the Green Bay Gamblers to the Clark Cup and won USHL Coach of the Year. In the American Hockey League, he helmed Tampa Bay’s affiliates, the Norfolk Admirals and Syracuse Crunch, helping Norfolk win the Calder Cup in 2011-12.