Panthers GM Bill Zito believes Paul Maurice is the right fit to be their head coach
The Florida Panthers officially introduced Paul Maurice to the media on Thursday morning and general manager Bill Zito told reporters that he believes the 55-year-old is a right fit to be their head coach.
Maurice stepped down as head coach of the Winnipeg Jets in December 2021 to give the team a new voice after spending parts of nine seasons as their bench boss. He expressed excitement during the press conference, calling the Panthers one of the powerhouse teams in the NHL and that he wanted to be a part of the organization.
He added, "That fit is hard to define, but when you're ready to coach a game five minutes after meeting Bill, you want to be a part of that."
The Sault Ste. Marie (Ontario) native has spent parts of 24 seasons in the NHL as a head coach with the Hartford Whalers, Carolina Hurricanes (two separate stints), Toronto Maple Leafs and most recently, the Winnipeg Jets. Maurice sits seventh all-time on the coaching wins list with 775, seven wins behind Lindy Ruff and Al Arbour.
Panthers GM: Maurice was ideal fit to become new coach https://t.co/nIe5sScPvL pic.twitter.com/Ulabau78EW— theScore NHL (@theScoreNHL) June 23, 2022
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Zachary Werenski | 2 | 3 | 5 | |
| Sean Monahan | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jesper Bratt | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Frederick Gaudreau | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Jack Hughes | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Nikita Kucherov | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Mackenzie Weegar | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Kent Johnson | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Alexander Wennberg | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Mitchell Chaffee | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Matthew Coronato | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Marcus Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Nick Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Conor Geekie | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Brandon Hagel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Stefan Noesen | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Igor Sharangovich | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Dmitry Voronkov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 19 | 16 | 3 | - | 32 | |
Hurricanes | 18 | 14 | 4 | - | 28 | |
Capitals | 18 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 27 | |
Wild | 18 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 27 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Devils | 21 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 17 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 19 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 25 | |
Stars | 18 | 12 | 6 | - | 24 | |
Golden Knights | 19 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 24 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||