Panthers Give Head Coach Paul Maurice Contract Extension In No-Brainer For The Ages

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The Florida Panthers' bid to defend their Stanley Cup title is off to a decent start — especially when you consider they've dealt with some injuries and absences to key pieces like Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk — and the team has locked up a major piece of the puzzle that led to their first ever Stanley Cup, and that is head coach Paul Maurice.

Just before puck drop against the Minnesota Wild, the team. announced that it had reached a deal with Maurice on a multi-year contract extension.

Maurice arrived in South Florida as the winningest coach in the NHL without a Stanley Cup win on his resume. He succeeded Andrew Brunette — who is now behind the Nashville Predators bench — who replaced Joel Quenneville part way through the 2021-22 season and led the Cats to a Presidents' Trophy.

So, the expectations were high and Maurice has delivered, leading the Panthers to back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals, including a win last season over the Edmonton Oilers.

So, yeah, I think it's probably a good idea to keep Maurice in the fold.

Panthers head coach Paul Maurice lifts the Stanley Cup after Florida's 2-1 victory against the Edmonton Oilers in Game Seven of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

"Paul has resolutely led our organization to unprecedented success during his relatively short tenure in South Florida," President of Hockey Operations & General Manager Bill Zito said in a statement. "He is a superb communicator and leader for our staff and players, possessing a keen strategic mind for the game. We are excited for Paul and his staff to continue to keep the Florida Panthers as a destination franchise for the foreseeable future."

Maurice is second in games coached in NHL history behind only Scotty Bowman and fourth all-time in wins with 873 as of Friday afternoon.

Things are certainly going well for the Panthers, and as long as they can stay healthy I don't think there's any reason they won't be playing into the late spring once again.

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Matt is a University of Central Florida graduate and a long-suffering Philadelphia Flyers fan living in Orlando, Florida. He can usually be heard playing guitar, shoe-horning obscure quotes from The Simpsons into conversations, or giving dissertations to captive audiences on why Iron Maiden is the greatest band of all time.