Jon Cooper Will Return as Lightning HC for 2025-26 Season After NHL Playoff Loss

Jon Cooper will return for a 14th season with the Tampa Bay Lightning after a first-round elimination by the Florida Panthers, general manager Julien BriseBois confirmed Friday.

"Coop will be back next year... and I expect beyond," BriseBois told reporters, per Jay Recher.

Cooper meanwhile told reporters when asked about his future with the team that it is "hard to see myself anywhere else."

The Lightning's 2024-25 season ended on Wednesday with a 6-3 Game 5 loss in a first-round matchup with the Florida Panthers.

Cooper was an AHL head coach before he took his first NHL job by replacing former Lightning head coach Guy Boucher in March 2013.

He has since spent the entirety of his NHL career in Tampa, where he led the Lightning to Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021. He has marked a 572-306-83 regular-season record (.638 win percentage) and 155-88-67 playoff record (.568) over parts of 13 seasons with the team.

After winning consecutive championships, Cooper led the Lightning back to the Stanley Cup Final in 2022. The Lightning have yet to win a playoff series since losing that Final to the Colorado Avalanche in six games.

"Tampa has been like home. For my kids, it's the only city they really remember... I can't believe it's been 12 years now," Cooper said. "I've never been part of another organization. I just know that if there's an organization out there that's better than this one, I want to see it.

"It just exudes class from the ownership all the way down. The players are a byproduct of it. They're a phenomenal representation of this city, not only on the ice but in the community."

The Lightning head coach signed a three-year extension after his back-to-back championship wins in 2021. The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta reported last May that Cooper was believed to have signed another extension taking his contract through 2025-26.

One third of NHL teams are seeking new head coaches this offseason. Cooper is the longest-tenured coach in the league, having held his position for more than three years before the Avalanche hired Jared Bednar in 2016.