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Jon Cooper

Atlantic Notes: Cooper, Senators, Seger, O’Connell

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Lightning head coach Jon Cooper will have some extra duties coming his way in the near future.  In his latest column for The Athletic (subscription link), Pierre LeBrun reports that Tampa Bay’s bench boss is expected to be named as Canada’s head coach for the upcoming 4 Nations Cup as well as the 2026 Olympics.  LeBrun adds that Hockey Canada considered having a separate head coach for each event but, like the United States with Mike Sullivan, has ultimately settled on having the same one for both.  Cooper has coached internationally at three events in the past.  He was Canada’s head coach at the 2017 Worlds, coached Team North America at the World Cup that same year, and was an assistant for the U.S. at the 2007 Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament.

More from the Atlantic Division:

  • Speaking at a season ticket holder session, Senators Senior Vice President Dave Poulin indicated that they have fielded trade interest in the seventh-overall selection, per Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (Twitter link). Ottawa underachieved considerably this season as instead of pushing for a playoff spot, they were well out of the mix early, resulting in changes both in the front office and behind the bench.  The Sens have to forfeit one of their first-round picks between now and 2026 as part of the punishment for failing to disclose Evgenii Dadonov’s no-trade clause to Vegas in 2021, eventually resulting in a failed trade to Anaheim the following year.  However, with this pick being so early, they wisely decided not to make this the year they lost the selection.
  • The Red Wings’ farm team has added one of the more intriguing remaining college free agents as AHL Grand Rapids announced the signing of Gabriel Seger to a one-year deal. The 24-year-old had a breakout showing in his final collegiate campaign, leading Cornell in scoring with 14 goals and 30 assists in 44 games although it wasn’t enough to land him an NHL deal in recent weeks.
  • Arizona State University associate coach Albie O’Connell is expected to leave the program to pursue an NHL opportunity, relays PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan (Twitter link). College Hockey News’ Mike McMahon adds (Twitter link) that O’Connell is expected to be hired by the Canadiens.  If that holds true, it will be his second stint with the organization after serving as a college scout for Montreal back in 2022-23 before returning behind an NCAA bench this past season.

Lightning Reportedly Extend Jon Cooper

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The Lightning have signed head coach Jon Cooper to a one-year extension, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reports. He’ll remain in Tampa through the 2025-26 campaign. He’d previously signed a three-year extension in October 2021 that ensured he’d be paid by the team through 2024-25. Speaking to reporters at this morning’s end-of-season media availability, general manager Julien BriseBois told reporters the team wouldn’t hold extension talks with Cooper this summer because “he had term,” indicating he’d signed or agreed to sign an extension past next season (via the Tampa Bay Times’ Eduardo A. Encina).

Cooper just wrapped up his 11th full season behind the Lightning bench, guiding the squad to a 45-29-8 record to match last season’s point total of 98, earning them the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. For the first time in his tenure, though, the Bolts finished in the bottom third of the league in goals against and posted a rather underwhelming -19 goal differential at 5-on-5. Their well-above-average power play and penalty kill buoyed them, but both were neutralized in the first round of this year’s playoffs by the Panthers, who ended Tampa’s season with a 6-1 win in Game 5 on Monday.

It was inarguably a down season for the team, marred by losing number two defenseman Mikhail Sergachev for over half the season and starting the campaign without All-Star goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. But the 56-year-old Cooper’s track record does more than enough heavy lifting to convince the Lightning front office that he’s the right person to extend their dwindling championship window.

After he took over for Guy Boucher with 15 games remaining in the shortened 2012-13 season, the Lightning have only missed the playoffs once in Cooper’s tenure. The longest-serving coach in the league has compiled a 525-279-75 record in 879 regular-season games behind the Tampa bench, as well as an 87-63 record in an astounding 150 playoff appearances. His 612 total wins with the Lightning are the third-most all-time with a single franchise, trailing Lindy Ruff with the Sabres (628) and Al Arbour with the Islanders (859).

Before this season, the Lightning hadn’t gone more than one year without a playoff series victory since advancing to the 2015 Stanley Cup Final. Now, they’ve fallen short of a .600 points percentage in back-to-back years and are 3-8 in their 11 playoff games over the last two seasons. Cooper’s sole task over the next two is to keep the club from falling into the trap of post-dynasty mediocrity, much like the current edition of the Penguins and the early 2010s Red Wings.

The roster he leads next season won’t look considerably different. 16 roster players are signed for next season at a combined $75.1MM cap hit, per CapFriendly. The notable exception is captain Steven Stamkos, who will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 for the first time in his career if BriseBois can’t get him signed to an extension. BriseBois added in today’s media availability that working on a deal with Stamkos over the next two months is a “priority,” although only preliminary talks have been held.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

East Notes: Duclair, Nosek, Rangers

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The Tampa Bay Lightning could be without winger Anthony Duclair on Thursday, with head coach Jon Cooper declaring him as “definitely doubtful” with a stomach bug, per Chris Krenn of NHL.com (Twitter link). Duclair has played in 14 games since moving to Tampa at the Trade Deadline. He’s been incredibly productive on a new roster, posting 12 points, split evenly, with Tampa after just 27 points in 56 games with the San Jose Sharks. His 0.857 points-per-game pace with Tampa is the highest of his career.

The Lightning have breathed new life into Duclair’s career, after a trade from the Florida Panthers to the Sharks last summer. The move stalled out Duclair’s production after three big seasons with the Panthers. He totaled 99 points across 137 games in Florida, adding 14 points in 34 playoff games. He’s now regaining that scoring touch across Florida, despite averaging his sparsest ice time (14:33) since the 2018-19 season.

Conor Sheary is expected to move into Duclair’s role next to Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov, while Mitchell Chaffee will slot back into the lineup. Sheary has three goals and 13 points in 53 games this season, while Chaffee has four goals and six points in 27 games. Tampa has four games left in their season and has already clinched the Eastern Conference’s top Wild Card, giving them the space to rest some of their top names like Duclair.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Tomas Nosek will be out of the New Jersey Devils lineup on Thursday, per interim head coach Travis Green (Twitter link). Nosek has been in and out of the lineup all season long, totaling just 35 games on the year. He’s scored six points in those appearances, adding six penalty minutes and a -9. It’s his first year in New Jersey, joining the team on a one-year, $1MM contract this summer. While injuries have been a major concern, Nosek has provided stout play in New Jersey’s fourth-line center role when healthy. Recall Graeme Clarke is slotting into the lineup in Nosek’s place, though it’s Shane Bowers who will take over his centerman role in the bottom six.
  • The New York Rangers have shared that both Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad are okay after scary incidents in the team’s Wednesday night game, per The Athletic’s Peter Baugh (Twitter link). Kreider took a slapshot from Zibanejad and looked banged up on the bench, while Zibanejad had a blindsided collision with New York Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech. Both players are expected to stay in the lineup as the Rangers approach their final three games of the season.

Injury Notes: Barkov, Vasilevskiy, McDonagh

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Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic is reporting that Florida Panthers star center Aleksander Barkov will not dress tonight for the Panthers matchup with the Boston Bruins. It will be the second game in a row that the 28-year-old has missed after suffering a knee injury in Friday night’s win over the Anaheim Ducks. Knee injuries can be tricky, and it appears that the Panthers are opting to proceed cautiously with Barkov’s return to the line-up.

Panthers head coach Paul Maurice did tell Florida play-by-play broadcaster Doug Plagens that Barkov could return as early as Friday against the Winnipeg Jets. If he can return, Barkov and the Panthers will have dodged a major injury scare as the collision that sidelined Barkov could have been much worse. Barkov currently sits second on the Panthers in scoring with six goals and 11 assists in 16 games.

In other injury notes:

  • Tampa Bay Times writer Eduardo A. Encina is reporting that Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper told reporters today that there is a very good chance that star goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy will play on the team’s upcoming road trip. Vasilevskiy took part in Tampa Bay’s morning skate today but still is not ready to play. The Lighting will open their three-game road trip this Friday in Carolina and then get a few days off before they play a back-to-back in Colorado and then Arizona next Monday and Tuesday. Given that timeline, it is possible that the 2019 Vezina Trophy winner will make his season debut in the next week.
  • Nashville Predators reporter Michael Gallagher tweeted that Predators defenseman Ryan McDonagh skated with Roman Josi at practice this morning and is expected to return to game action this evening against the Calgary Flames. McDonagh has been out of action with a lower-body injury since November 2nd, missing the Predators last seven games. While he doesn’t offer much offensively, Nashville’s goaltenders badly missed the veteran. McDonagh is still a terrific penalty killer and does a very good job limiting his opponent’s offensive opportunities. Nashville gave up 20 goals in a four-game losing streak in McDonagh’s absence but has rallied off two straight wins since. They currently sit sixth in the Central Division with a 7-10 record.

Lightning Notes: Hedman, Jeannot, Eyssimont

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The Tampa Bay Lightning could have Victor Hedman back in the lineup tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The big defenseman took the morning skate, and is a game-time decision. Hedman left game one early with what head coach Jon Cooper deemed a”new” injury, but might not miss much important action. The Lightning rolled over Toronto in game one while playing shorthanded, after Erik Cernak also left with a head injury.

Cernak has been ruled out, but it is a good sign for Lightning fans that Hedman is this close, even if he happens to miss tonight.

Here are some more Lightning injury notes:

  • All indications are that Tanner Jeannot will make his Tampa Bay postseason debut tonight, less than two weeks after suffering what appeared to be a serious injury. The former Nashville Predators forward was the team’s big deadline addition and could add another level of physicality to the series. Jeannot scored just one goal in 20 games with the Lightning after the trade but racked up 77 hits, even averaging fewer than 12 minutes a night.
  • Mikey Eyssimont, who also left game one after a big hit, has been ruled out for game two but took part in morning skate. That’s another good sign that he could return this series, giving the Lightning some more depth as they try to knock Toronto out for the second year in a row.

Snapshots: Wilson, Sergachev, Holm

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Despite a strong 7-2-1 run in their last ten, the Washington Capitals remain in sixth place in the tough Metro, four points out of a divisional playoff spot. As they chase down the teams ahead of them, though some reinforcements are coming. Tom Wilson donned a regular jersey at practice today and skated on a line with Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin, though the return for the first two is still a little way down the road. Wilson and Backstrom will not travel with the team to Ottawa according to Samantha Pell of the Washington Post, though Nic Dowd, Alex Alexeyev, and Darcy Kuemper will.

Wilson, 28, is one of the most unique players in the league, able to contribute at a high level offensively while still acting like a pseudo-enforcer on the ice. Racking up at least 93 penalty minutes in each of his nine NHL seasons, he had 24 goals and 52 points in 78 games last season. Since the Capitals never put him on long-term injured reserve, they can activate him without worrying about cap implications. Backstrom, whose $9.2MM cap hit has sat on LTIR all year, is a different story; the team will need to clear quite a bit to get him back on the roster.

  • Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev’s bank account took a little hit today, as he was fined $5,000 for slashing Toronto Maple Leafs forward Michael Bunting last night. That is the maximum allowable fine under the current CBA. While it doesn’t seem like much, the incident will be considered in any future supplementary discipline decisions, and could lead to increased punishment down the line. For Tampa Bay, they at least are escaping Toronto with no suspensions, after being pummeled by the Maple Leafs in a performance head coach Jon Cooper called “a complete bag of you know what.”
  • As expected, Arvid Holm has been returned to the minor leagues by the Winnipeg Jets, meaning Connor Hellebuyck has recovered enough from his illness to return to action. In his absence, David Rittich stopped 35 of 36 shots in a win over the Ottawa Senators, raising his save percentage to .909 on the year – his highest since 2018-19.

Final Notes: Kucherov, Toews, Point

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The Tampa Bay Lightning were able to respond with a strong effort in game three last night to pull closer in their series against the Colorado Avalanche, but it wasn’t without a cost. Nikita Kucherov and several others left the game at various points with injuries, though it seems they may have escaped without too much issue. Today, head coach Jon Cooper explained to reporters including Joe Smith of The Athletic that though it is not yet certain, he expects Kucherov to play in game four.

Here are a couple of other notes from the Stanley Cup Final:

  • Devon Toews, whose cross-check was the reason Kucherov left the game in the first place, is not expected to receive any supplementary discipline from the league. Smith notes that the league felt the play was properly penalized by the on-ice officials, who gave Toews a two-minute minor. It was not the only borderline play in the game but since the Department of Player Safety has not yet issued any hearings, it’s safe to say that there aren’t any suspensions expected from last night.
  • Brayden Point, who missed game three and was replaced by Riley Nash, is doubtful for game four. The 26-year-old forward played in both of the first two games of the series but is still dealing with the injury that took him out of round one against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Point recorded just one shot through those first two games and was a shadow of the dominant player he can be at full strength.

East Notes: Point, Penguins Front Office, Popugayev

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Jun 15: Point is officially playing in tonight’s Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, per Cooper.

Jun 14: There’s finally confirmation that Brayden Point will be back within the Tampa Bay Lightning lineup this season. Point took practice today with the team, practicing on the first power-play unit. Head coach Jon Cooper said after practice that “there’s a chance” Point will play in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final tomorrow night, and that he “really anticipates” Point being available for Game 2.

Point’s return certainly begins to stack the cards more in favor of the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions. Historically a point-per-game player in the playoffs, a healthy Point gives Tampa Bay two elite centers to counteract the strong Colorado Avalanche offense. With Nazem Kadri potentially still injured for Colorado, it swings the center matchup massively in Tampa’s favor.

Snapshots: Sabres, Maccelli, Cooper

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There’s no doubt that the Buffalo Sabres will be sellers once again at this year’s Trade Deadline, but there have been many questions posed about how many desirable assets the Sabres actually have. The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta can report, though, that Buffalo is “taking calls” on a good portion of their defense core, including Colin Miller, Mark Pysyk, Robert Hagg, and Will Butcher, who are all pending unrestricted free agents. Miller and Pysyk especially have had good results this season, and could command at least a mid-round pick and pose as solid depth for contending teams. The team has also received interest in power-play specialist and pending restricted free agent Victor Olofsson, per Pagnotta. While it may seem surprising that the Sabres would currently be willing to deal a young forward, it looks like Olofsson’s inconsistency and poor defensive play are making the Sabres front office question his future with the team.

More notes from the league on a sleepy Thursday:

  • Matias Maccelli, who’s torn up the AHL this season with the Tucson Roadrunners, is making his NHL debut tonight for the Arizona Coyotes and rightfully so. He’s not exactly a household name, even among prospect aficionados, but the organization is high on him, said general manager Bill Armstrong in a radio appearance today. He’ll come into the team’s training camp next season with the chance to start the season in the team’s top six. He’s getting a look there tonight, as well, lining up alongside Alex Galchenyuk and Phil Kessel for his NHL debut. Maccelli has 14 goals and 41 assists for 55 points in 42 AHL games.
  • A relative rarity nowadays, Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper was ejected near the end of the second period from tonight’s game against Pittsburgh after getting into a verbal spat with referee Wes McCauley. It’s something to watch out for in the coming days, as the incident will likely be followed up with a fine from the NHL.

Cal Foote, Taylor Raddysh Enter COVID Protocol

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The Tampa Bay Lightning announced some good news and some bad news today. Head coach Jon Cooper and forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare have both exited the COVID protocol, but Cal Foote and Taylor Raddysh have taken their place. Goaltending coach Frantz Jean has also entered the protocol.

Getting Cooper back is obviously big news for the Lightning, who take on their state rival Florida Panthers tonight in a matchup that could have playoff implications down the road. Tampa Bay, Florida, and the Toronto Maple Leafs are all battling for supremacy at the top of the Atlantic Division, with the Lightning currently holding a four-point lead on both. The head coach doesn’t have to split his attention anymore either–his services at the upcoming Olympics are no longer required, after the NHL decided against participation.

Losing Foote hurts though, even if he is averaging just over 13 minutes a night this season. The 23-year-old defenseman is a key piece of depth for the Lightning and has suited up 20 times this season, registering strong results in his limited ice time. With Andrej Sustr and Mikhail Sergachev already unavailable due to the COVID protocol, the defensive depth of Tampa Bay will be tested.

Foote and Raddysh join Sergachev, Sustr, Anthony Cirelli, Andrei Vasilevskiy, and Brian Elliotte on the sidelines.

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