The Florida Panthers are going big for their next head coach after they announced on Monday that Joel Quenneville will replace Bob Boughner behind their bench.
“Joel is a three-time Stanley Cup champion head coach who will be a transformative leader for the Florida Panthers franchise,” said Panthers general manager Dale Tallon. “We’ve seized the opportunity to add one of the most successful head coaches in hockey history and we’re thrilled that Joel has agreed to take on the challenge of leading our promising young team. I’ve worked with Joel previously and have seen firsthand how his passion for the game, head coaching experience and leadership can impact an organization. Joel will accelerate our growth into a club that qualifies for the playoffs consistently and competes every year toward our goal of winning the Stanley Cup.”
We’ve got the man with the ‘stache #NewProfilePic pic.twitter.com/xMR9rwSlyJ
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) April 8, 2019
In a statement after relieving Boughner of his duties on Sunday, Tallon noted he was seeking a “transformative, experienced head coach with Stanley Cup pedigree to lead our team going forward.” That certainly fit Quenneville’s profile, and considering their relationship -- Tallon was the Chicago Blackhawks’ GM when he hired Quenneville to replace Denis Savard -- you knew the Panthers would be pretty aggressive in trying to persuade the three-time Cup champion to head to Sunrise.
[NBC 2019 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]
Quenneville also won’t come cheap, which shows you how much Panthers owner Vinnie Viola views this off-season in terms of turning the franchise around. According to Pierre LeBrun, the deal is worth over $30M for five years depending on bonuses. That also means the Blackhawks are happy to see their former head coach, who had a contract through the end of next season, off of their books and into the Eastern Conference.
The addition of a successful, big-name head coach is to be the start of a busy summer for Tallon and the Panthers. They’ve made the playoffs once in the last seven seasons and they aren’t splashing the cash for Quenneville to not be a playoff team a year from now. The biggest question is what happens in net with Roberto Luongo’s future. The 40-year-old has three years left on his deal and just finished a season where he was hampered with injury. James Reimer still has two years remaining on his contract. Then you have the rumors of a potential tandem free agent signing this summer of Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky, which could be a game-changer for the franchise considering the talent that’s already there.
However busy the Panthers’ off-season turns out to be, Monday was a great start in hopes to moving in a better direction.
MORE: Quenneville sees Panthers’ roster with right ‘ingredients to win’
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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.