Cooper Remains In Charge Despite Recent Playoff Woes
- Mike Smith
- 6 minutes ago
- 6 min read
Tampa Bay Head Coach Jon Cooper is the longest-serving coach in the NHL, having joined the Lightning in March 2013. In January, the two-time Stanley Cup champion became the third-fastest coach to reach 500 wins, and the quickest to do so with one franchise. Despite four consecutive first-round playoff exits leading to murmurs from dissatisfied fans, the team has a response for those advocating for a coaching change behind the Bolts' bench:
"Coop" isn't going anywhere.
The 2026 Jack Adams finalist again excelled this past season at adjusting strategies to fit players' strengths, maintaining a high-flying offense while stabilizing a defense that dealt with significant injury issues.
“It was a big, big year for him,” Lightning General Manager BriseBois said when asked about Cooper last week. “When you start putting it in context like that, yeah, it’s amazing what he’s been able to do."
As big a year as it was for him, there were setbacks for Cooper. First, Team Canada, coached by Cooper, lost to the United States and settled for silver in the Olympics.
From there, his bad fortune seemed to follow him back from Milan, Italy, to Tampa. After posting a 19-1-1 streak before the Olympic break, the Bolts finished the season 16-16-2, including the playoffs.
"I thought they (Cooper and his staff) came in this year with a vision for this team, and they sold it well, and the players bought in, and it made for a really good regular season," BriseBois said. "Unfortunately, we weren't able to get over the hump against a really good Montreal team that played well."
The Lightning's post-Olympic Break slide has left some fans and pundits complaining that Cooper's time with the team may be at an end.
Cooper's teams have always been known for their ability to compete hard, evidenced by the team winning 19 games after surrendering the first goal in 2025-26. However, the last time the Lightning held a lead after the first period was in a 6-2 win in Vancouver on March 19th.
Even his comments after the season ended ruffled some, including his star goalie, Andrei Vasilevskiy.
“The Hockey Gods have been in my corner many, many times,” Cooper said after the tough Game 7 loss to Montreal. “Tonight they were in the other corner.”
Vasilevskiy found no consolation in Cooper's words.
"I feel like that's been our excuse for the last few years," Vasilevskiy said. "The hockey gods, bad bounces ... yeah, bad bounces for sure, but at the end of the day it's like a broken record."
The loss for the fourth-straight year and Vasilevskiy's critique fueled speculation that Cooper's tenure in Tampa had concluded.
BriesBois was very clear regarding Cooper's status with the Tampa Bay Lightning when asked last week.
"He's here for a while," the Lightning GM said adamantly.
Cooper Remains The Envy of the League
When Montreal ousted the Lightning on May 3rd, rumors started flying about his employment. The names of other teams and where he could land if let go by Tampa Bay started to crop up.
NHL insider David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period shut down any speculation by Toronto Maple Leaf fans after the firing of Craig Berube on Wednesday that Cooper could come to work at Scotiabank Arena.
"(Cooper) is going ot be there (Tampa Bay) as long as he wants to be," he said on Leafs Morning Take on May 13th.
Edmonton Journal analyst David Staples added fuel to the fire when he posted the question on X, “Will Tampa’s Jon Cooper or Bruce Cassidy replace (Oilers' head coach) Kris Knoblauch as Edmonton Oilers coach?”
NHL analyst Karman Gill essentially stated what Edmonton fans wanted to hear:
“Jon Cooper should be fired and given a head coaching job for the Oilers,” Gill said.
Part of the speculation is rooted in Oilers star Connor McDavid himself. Earlier this season, McDavid was candid about his thoughts regarding Cooper following a loss in March. He noted the talent of Cooper, calling the Lightning "perfectly coached" and "extremely well organized."
McDavid is not wrong, and it's one of the reasons Cooper remains the longest-tenured coach in the NHL with Tampa Bay.
Edmonton fired Knoblauch today, but Cooper will not be the replacement. The early front-runner is Cassidy now that Cooper remains the Bench Boss in Tampa.
Cooper, Coaching Staff Have Obstacles to Overcome
Without a doubt, Jon Cooper's focus on "trusting the process" and a "culture first" approach has contributed to the Lightning's success. Five years of change have seen success, yet struggles, especially in the postseason.
There remains a plan in place, and Cooper will be a key part of it.
“There wasn’t a lot of turnover in Year 1 and Year 2 between those two cup teams,” BriseBois said about the team’s evolution over the past few years. “But after that, there was significant changeover. We’re looking for opportunities to have a pipeline of players, whether it’s via trades, free agents, or organically developing players that can come in, step in, and play a role for many years to come."
Along with the player pipeline, Cooper's coaching staff continues to evolve with him.
"Again, I know in our business we put a lot of emphasis on the head coach. I’m certainly not taking anything away from Coop. You know my affection and admiration for Coop," BriseBois said. "But it’s a staff, right? I know he’s got a really good staff with him that helps him, that supports him. All of those guys bring a lot to the table.”
"All of them did a fabulous job this year, as they do every year," he continued. "So you're asking me, did they do a better job this year or not? I think they may have had a little more challenging year, but I think they do good work all the time."
Assistants Jeff Halpern, Dan Hinote, and Rob Zettler have stood out and shown that one day they may find themselves behind the bench as head men of their own teams. For now, each has some work to do.
The power play ended up in the middle of the NHL road, ranked 7th at 20.7%. Halpern hasn't been able to return to that power play look Tampa Bay had in the Steven Stamkos years.
The Bolts don't have to duplicate that look, where Stamkos would notoriously hold office in the left circle waiting to make the inevitable goal with his lethal one-timer. Still, Halpern needs to create a more effective power play that challenges defenses.
The probability of losing breakout defenseman Darren Raddysh, who became an integral part of the Lightning power play this season, will add to the challenge.
Zettler's defensive scheme was hurt by injuries and had some holes, especially in the latter half of the season, and he will need to find a rhythm with a changing lineup (see above on Raddysh) that keeps goals out of the Lightning net. Less puck chasing, more backchecking.
Hinote needs to tweak the penalty kill unit enough to keep them in the league's top 5 next year (they were third in 2025-26).
Cooper Awaits Jack Adams Award Announcement
Now that the season is over, Cooper has some time to look back, process it, and start preparing for next season.
His thoughts following Game 7 didn't focus on him, but on his team, and will surely drive him over the summer to be an even better coach.
"This team was different. It was different. They deserve better than what has happened to them. It's too bad because of how hard they've worked and committed and just did everything we asked and, then, to go out," said Cooper. "This was that team. They just went out there wearing their heart on their sleeve, and they gave everything they possibly could, and we just came up short."
Cooper also has the upcoming NHL awards to look forward to. A three-time finalist for the Jack Adams award, this is his first since the President's Cup trophy-winning season of 2018-19.
“Congratulations to Coop and our entire coaching staff for the Jack Adams nomination," BriseBois said. "When I called him to announce it to him, I said, ‘I don't know why this year, not every other year,’ but it's nice to be recognized, finally. The coach has done a fabulous job."
With Lindy Ruff of the Buffalo Sabres the favorite, along with Pittsburgh's Dan Muse, Cooper may not win the coveted award, although he should have years ago.
However, winning the award is not Jon Cooper's ultimate goal. Hoisting another Stanley Cup over his head as the coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning is.
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