The Tampa Bay Lightning made sure they had head coach Jon Cooper on a long-term contract before starting their quest for a three-peat. The franchise announced on Monday that Cooper inked a new three-year extension that will now keep him with the franchise through the 2025-26 season.
Cooper, who is currently the longest-tenured head coach in the league, is getting rewarded for leading the team on an impressive run that saw the Lightning win the Stanley Cup in each of the past two years.
“It has been a tremendous honor to be the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning for the past eight-plus seasons, and I’m looking forward to having the opportunity to build on what we have here,” Cooper said in a statement after the deal became official.
Jon Cooper arrived in Tampa Bay as a mid-season replacement for Guy Boucher in 2012-13 and quickly established the Lightning into a force to be reckoned with. In just his second season at the helm, Cooper led the team to the Stanley Cup finals but fell short against the Chicago Blackhawks.
After making two conference finals in the next four years, the Lightning returned to the Stanley Cup in the shortened 2019-20 season and, this time, managed to win it all. Cooper and the team then repeated the feat last season with a dominant 4-1 outing in the series against the Montreal Canadiens.
As Lightning’s head coach, Cooper has a 384–197–53 record. He is 70–46 in the postseason.
“Unequivocally, Coop is the best person for the job,” Lightning’s general manager Julien BriseBois said. “He is a great leader, spokesperson, and ambassador for our organization. We are lucky to have him as our head coach, and I very much look forward to our continued partnership.”
