MIAMI — The Florida Panthers are on the verge of moving on from Andrew Brunette and bringing in a more established, experienced coach to lead their chase for a Stanley Cup.
Paul Maurice, whose 775 wins are the seventh most in NHL history, will be the Panthers’ next coach, The Sports Network reported, and is in talks to finalize a deal.
The organization has not yet made any sort of announcement. Maurice’s deal is reportedly a three-year contract.
Most recently, Maurice was the coach of the Winnipeg Jets before he abruptly resigned after just 28 games this season. He also previously coached the Toronto Maple Leafs, and had two stints as the coach of Carolina Hurricanes, leading them to 2002 Stanley Cup Final in their fifth season in their fifth season after moving from Connecticut. His coaching career began at just 28 when he became the coach of the Hartford Whalers in 1995, staying with the organization when they moved to North Carolina in 1997.
Maurice, 55, has coached the fourth most games in NHL history and posted a .528 points percentage in those 1,684 games. His teams made the Stanley Cup playoffs nine times in his 24 seasons, including in four of his last five years with the Jets.
In hiring Maurice, Florida is opting for a proven commodity — something similar to when it hired former coach Joel Quenneville back in 2019, albeit without the same track record of postseason success — rather than Brunette, who abruptly took over as the interim coach earlier this season after Quenneville resigned after seven games following revelations about his involvement in the Chicago Blackhawks’ mishandling of a 2010 sexual-assault allegation.
Brunette, 48, guided the Panthers through turmoil to their first Presidents’ Trophy and their first trip to the second round of the Cup playoffs since 1996, but Florida flamed out in Round 2 and the Tampa Bay Lightning swept its rival out of the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs 4-0.
Brunette was a finalist for the Adams Award, mostly for his handling of the unexpected transition and the steady hand he had in guiding one of the NHL’s most stacked rosters to a historic regular season. The concern, instead, arose in the playoffs, when the Panthers couldn’t keep up the high-scoring pace they set in the regular season and particularly struggled on the power play, which was Brunette’s primary area of focus when he was an assistant coach.
It was a stark difference from Quenneville, who typically elevated his teams’ level of play in the postseason and won three Stanley Cups with the Blackhawks.
“We’re going to take a little bit of time here,” general manager Bill Zito said last month. “We’re going to let all the emotions just settle, and we’re going to make a thorough and rational call, go through a decision-making process and we’re going to come to conclusions for the right reasons.”
Ultimately, he let Brunette coach with the interim tag all year because it gave him flexibility to make a change in the offseason if he felt it was necessary. With the way the 2021-22 NHL season ended for Florida, the GM opted to move on, after leaving Brunette in limbo for more than a month into the offseason.
Brunette’s future now is not clear, although it is possible he could remain with the organization. The coach previously worked in the Minnesota Wild’s front office until Quenneville, who coached Brunette as a player, hired him as one of his assistants back in 2019.
Last month, Brunette said he “of course” wanted to return as coach for the 2022-23 NHL season, although he said he would also have to discuss the situation with his family because of how unexpectedly he was thrust into the interim job.
“I love this team, but I understand the business and it is what it is,” Brunette said. “What I did is on the table and it’s what they want to do going forward, and I understand either side of the equation, but it was a fun ride and I enjoyed every moment of it.”
