The reigning Stanley Cup-winning coach signed an extension on Tuesday.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Florida Panthers extended head coach Paul Maurice to a multi-year deal. However, the terms of the contract are unknown as of yet.
Maurice, now 57 years old, has been coaching in the league longer than I’ve been alive, getting his first head coaching job with the Hartford Whalers in 1995-96 as a mid-season replacement.
He stayed with the organization as they moved to Raleigh, North Carolina. His best moment in his first stint with the Hurricanes was in 2001-02, as he led his team to the Stanley Cup Final where they fell to the Detroit Red Wings.
Maurice was fired during the 2003-04 season after an 8-12-8 start, spending a season as the Toronto Marlies head coach, before joining the Toronto Maple Leafs for two seasons from 2006-07 until the end of the 2007-08 season. He once again returned to the Hurricanes to begin the 2008-09 season, making the third round in 2009 before missing the playoffs the next two seasons and being fired in 2011-12.
Out of left field, Maurice headed to the Kontinental Hockey League to coach the Metallurg Magnitogorsk for a season, before returning to the National Hockey League to coach the Winnipeg Jets. Maurice spent nine seasons there, with his tenure partway through the 2021-22 season after stepping down.
Before the beginning of the 2022-23 season, Maurice joined the Panthers, helping the team reach their second-ever Stanley Cup Final where they lost to the Vegas Golden Knights. However, he and his team defeated the Edmonton Oilers in the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals.

Vince Dunn placed on long-term injured reserve by the Kraken

On Monday evening, the Seattle Kraken placed defenceman Vince Dunn on long-term injured reserve, calling up Cale Fleury to replace him.
Dunn is a left-shot defenceman who was selected in the second round of the 2015 draft by the St. Louis Blues. Dunn made his National Hockey League debut in 2017-18 with the Blues and won the Stanley Cup the following season. After two more seasons with the Blues, Dunn was selected in the expansion draft by the Kraken.
Dunn broke out in 2022-23, scoring 14 goals and 64 points in 81 games, both being a career-high. Moreover, he scored a goal and seven points in 14 games as the Kraken made their first postseason appearance.
The 27-year-old spent a significant chunk of the 2023-24 season injured but scored 11 goals and 46 points in 59 games when healthy. So far in the 2024-25 season, Dunn had a goal and three points in four games before his injury.

Juraj Slafkovský will miss at least a week

Speaking of injuries, Montréal Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovský will be out for at least a week due to an upper-body injury. Once he returns, he’ll be re-evaluated.
Slafkovský was selected first overall in 2022 by the Canadiens. His rookie season wasn’t great, scoring just four goals and 10 points in 39 games. However, the Slovakian native broke out in 2023-24, mustering 20 goals and 50 points in 82 games.
So far in 2024-25, he has a goal and six points as the Canadiens are looking to return to the postseason for the first time since the 2021 postseason. They’re already without Patrik Laine and David Reinbacher, both out with knee injuries, so this is a tough blow for the Canadiens.

Craig Berube’s Maple Leafs are looking good

Sticking with Original Six teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs have a 4-2-0 record in their six games played heading into Tuesday’s slate of games. Goaltending has been terrific, but it also feels like the Leafs have a great coach (Craig Berube) for the first time in a long time.
Nick Alberga of Leafs Morning Take joined Tyler Yaremchuk and Johnny Lazarus on Tuesday’s edition of Daily Faceoff Live to discuss the Leafs’ start to the 2024-25 season.
Tyler Yaremchuk: Last night was a great night for Leafs fans. Optimism is really high right now. But I want to know: what are you seeing that’s different from a team coached by Craig Berube that the Leafs weren’t getting when they were coached by Sheldon Keefe?”
Nick Alberga: “First and foremost, guys, I think it’s consistency. It’s pretty interesting over the last couple of years. The Leafs have been one of the better teams in the NHL, statistically, in the regular season, but on any given night, you had no clue which Maple Leafs team was going to show up.
And so far, so good through six games in this season. Every game they showed up, they started on time. Pardon the cliches, but they’re playing this physical, North-South type brand of hockey where it’s a grind, and it’s less skill and more just ‘go to work and get the lunch pail out,’ which I think is cool. It’s not as fun to watch. They’re grinding it out a bit more, but I think on a shift-by-shift basis, it’s just got a bit of a different feel in terms of the way they want to play.
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