Lightning’s Jon Cooper wins Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year
Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper has been named the winner of the 2026 Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s coach of the year, the club announced Wednesday afternoon.
Cooper, 58, led the Lightning to a 50-26-6 record and 106 points in the 2025-26 regular season, enough for second place in the Atlantic Division and a ninth consecutive playoff berth. The NHL Broadcasters’ Association votes on the Jack Adams Award upon the completion of the regular season.
The Lightning reached the 50-win mark for the first time since 2021-22 and clinched a matchup with the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. In an upset, the Canadiens defeated the Lightning in seven games to kickstart their run to the Eastern Conference Final.
Cooper, who has served as Lightning head coach since replacing Guy Boucher midway through the 2012-13 season, had previously been named a finalist for the Jack Adams Award on two separate occasions (2014, 2019). He beat out Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Muse and Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff to win this year’s award.
Cooper is currently the NHL’s longest-tenured head coach. He has guided the Lightning on four trips to the Stanley Cup Final, winning in 2020 and 2021 and losing in 2015 and 2022. The Lightning have also won two Atlantic Division championships under Cooper’s watch, and captured the Presidents’ Trophy in 2019.
With the NHL on pause midway through the 2025-26 season, Cooper coached Team Canada to a silver medal at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics; the Prince George, B.C. product had previously served in the same capacity with Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off in 2025.
Under Cooper, Nikita Kucherov was named a finalist for the Hart Trophy as league MVP after leading the Lightning with 44 goals and 130 points in 76 games during the 2025-26 season. In addition, Andrei Vasilevskiy was named a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender after posting a 39-15-4 record and a .912 save percentage in 58 games.
Cooper is the second coach in Lightning history to win the Jack Adams Award, following John Tortorella in 2004. Cooper has been behind the bench for what has undoubtedly been the most successful period in Lightning history both on and off the ice, although the club has not won a playoff series since their last trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2022.