Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper quieted rumors about his future, with the two-time Stanley Cup winner saying Friday that he can’t envision himself leading another team.
He told reporters not to believe the chatter about possibilities he won’t be back, instead saying only he and general manager Julien BriseBois and team owners have the answer.
“The talk should be whatever comes from Julien and I or ownership,” Cooper, 57, said. “Tampa has been home for my kids, it’s all they really remember.
“For me it’s hard to see myself anywhere else.”
Cooper has led the Lightning since March 2013 and has a 572-306-83 (.638) record in the regular season, and the team intends for him to add to those numbers.
“Coop will be back next year,” BriseBois said.
His contract is believed to run through next season, with BriseBois saying he’d like Cooper to sign an extension.
Cooper is the longest-tenured coach in the NHL and won back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2020 and 2021. The Lightning have made the playoffs 11 times under Cooper, who has an 88-67 record (.568) in the postseason.
The Florida Panthers eliminated the Lightning in the first round of this season’s playoffs in five games.
Also Friday, BriseBois called it “unlikely” that the Lightning will sign Isaac Howard, whom they selected No. 31 overall in 2022. He won the Hobey Baker Award as the best NCAA men’s player in Division I last month while playing for Michigan State.
Speaking last month on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast, Howard said he didn’t see the Bolts in his future, making it sound like a foregone conclusion he’d play elsewhere.
“I just feel like with me and Tampa, we didn’t see eye to eye the same way I thought we would,” he said. “It wasn’t a situation where I was demanding to step right into the NHL, it wasn’t anything like that. It just didn’t necessarily work.”
He will become a free agent next year if he does not sign with Tampa Bay.
“He values the opportunity to choose the club that he believes is the best fit for him,” BriseBois said.
–Field Level Media
