Stanley Cup champion Panthers and coach Paul Maurice agree on contract extension

SUNRISE, Fla. — (AP) — The Florida Panthers have given out another big extension — this one, to their Stanley Cup-winning coach.

Paul Maurice and the Panthers have agreed on an extended contract, the team announced Tuesday. Maurice was in the final year of a three-year deal, and it was a certainty that the Panthers planned on keeping him around after he took the team to the Stanley Cup Final in each of his first two seasons.

“Paul has resolutely led our organization to unprecedented success during his relatively short tenure in South Florida,” Panthers president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Zito said in a statement. “He is a superb communicator and leader for our staff and players, possessing a keen strategic mind for the game. We are excited for Paul and his staff to continue to keep the Florida Panthers as a destination franchise for the foreseeable future.”

Maurice entered Tuesday with 98 regular-season wins with Florida, already the third most in club history behind Jacques Martin (110) and Peter DeBoer (103). And his postseason success with the Panthers is beyond compare; he's won 29 playoff games with Florida — highlighted by the team winning its first Stanley Cup last season — while every other coach in club history has 25 playoff wins combined.

It's the latest big deal that the team has gotten done, and more proof that Florida's championship core might be together for years to come.

The Panthers announced already this season that they've signed forward Carter Verhaeghe to an eight-year extension, meaning they have many of their key players — also including Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, Anton Lundell and Gustav Forsling — under contract through at least 2030. And the team is talking to forward Sam Bennett about an extension as well.

Maurice is second in NHL history in games coached (1,855 entering Tuesday) behind Scotty Bowman (2,141), and fourth all-time in wins (873) behind Bowman (1,244), Joel Quenneville (969) and Barry Trotz (914).

Last season's title by the Panthers was Maurice's first Stanley Cup championship.

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