SUNRISE (Florida Sports Wire) – Florida Panthers President of Hockey Operations & General Manager Bill Zito announced that the club has agreed to terms with Head Coach Paul Maurice on a multi-year contract extension.
“Paul has resolutely led our organization to unprecedented success during his relatively short tenure in South Florida,” said Zito. “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, 57, is in his third season as head coach of the Florida Panthers. He has compiled a 98-58-15 regular season record as bench boss of the Cats, while his 29 postseason wins (29-16) are the most in franchise history.
The Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario native guided the Panthers to the Stanley Cup Final in each of his first two seasons behind the bench, leading the club to its first championship in 2023-24. He owns a postseason series record of 7-1 with Florida, including two game seven victories (at Boston in Round 1, 2023 and vs. Edmonton in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final) improving his personal record in game sevens to 5-0.
With Florida, Maurice has helped the team secure an Atlantic Division title, two Prince of Wales trophies, and a Stanley Cup. Since the start of the 2022-23 season, the Cats rank first in shots on goal per game (35.1), tied for ninth in goals per game (3.37), eighth in goals against per game (2.89), 10th in power-play percentage (23.0), seventh in third-period goals (201), and seventh in hits (4,281). Florida ranks second in shot attempts percentage at five-on-five play (54.9) in that span.
In 2023-24, the Cats posted the lowest goals against per game (2.41) and shots against per game (27.8) in one season in club history. Securing the Atlantic Division title for the second time in the last three seasons, Florida posted 110 points (52-24-6 record), the second-highest point total in franchise history.
Maurice has served as head coach for 1,855 regular season NHL games, second only to Scotty Bowman (2,141) for the most in League history. His 873 career wins rank fourth all time.