George Richards, FHN Publisher
TAMPA — The Florida Panthers had their best season in franchise history but it came to an unsavory end Monday night in a playoff sweep to the Lightning.
There will be plenty of questions regarding how the Panthers will look next season and there will be plenty of time for those answers.
Coach Andrew Brunette, who still has the interim tag attached to his title, does not appear to know whether he will be asked to return behind the bench amid rumblings whether he even wants to.
On Monday night, the 2-0 loss still raw, Brunette was asked a number of questions about his future.
When asked about what he had learned since taking over for friend and mentor Joel Quenneville, Brunette said he “would take some time to reflect on it” while adding he would have plenty of time this summer to reflect on just how much.
”I learned a lot,’’ said Brunette, who was the Atlantic coach at All-Star weekend and a Jack Adams finalist for NHL Coach of the Year.
“I think I will take it with me and grow as a coach. Again, I was really disappointed with my effort on the power play. I don’t know if I trusted it too much, that we would turn it around. I’ll kick myself all summer. It has already cost me sleepless nights and it may cause me more.”
On other matters Brunette was a little more vague.
Does he want to coach the Panthers moving forward?
“I mean, I love this team. Of course, I would love to,” Brunette said. “But those aren’t really my decisions. I have family I have to talk to and see … we were kind of thrown into this a little bit. I have to talk to my wife and see if, after playing for 20 years, if she’s on board for this.
”But, I love this group and I believe in it. I believe in them and am really proud of what they have accomplished. I think there is more.”
General manager Bill Zito has not publicly let on which way he is going to go or is even leaning toward.
In conversations about Brunette’s future with the Panthers, at least when it came to being behind the bench, Zito has said he would wait until the season is over before a decision is made.
Florida being swept out of the playoffs is not thought to be a huge determining factor one way or another.
It may end up playing a role, but decisions could have already been made — on both sides of the table.
Brunette, as he has said in the past, was caught by surprise when Quenneville resigned due to his role in the Chicago Blackhawks’ video coach sex scandal.
Quenneville had just started his third season with the Panthers and the team was off to a 7-0 start when he and team management — including Zito and team president Matt Caldwell — traveled to New York for a meeting with NHL hierarchy.
It was there where Quenneville was told to either resign or face a lengthy suspension.
He resigned and Zito offered the job — again, on an interim basis — to Brunette.
Zito has publically thanked Brunette for stepped in from his job as an assistant coach to one having much more responsibility.
Whether he wants to continue this is something both sides will talk about.
”It has been a real chaotic stretch since the end of October,’’ Brunette said. “I stayed in the day-to-day grind of it and didn’t want to look too far ahead. I think I did a pretty good job of that. Now I will take some time. They have decisions and go from there.
“It was a great experience, this was a fun group to coach. I’m proud of them, their effort. There is more there and I believe the group will take another step. They’ll get better.”
The Panthers were believed to be paying Quenneville in the neighborhood of the $6 million per year he had been making before being fired by Chicago in 2018.
It is not known what sort of financial arrangement was made when he stepped down in October.
There have been some whispers Quenneville could return to the Panthers and finish out his contract — one which would have three years remaining on it if it is, indeed, still intact.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said during a first-round game in Sunrise that Quenneville would have to meet with him if seeking reinstatement (from the unwritten suspension) and as of then had not requested a sit-down.
If Brunette does not want to return — or the Panthers do not want him back — and Quenneville is out of the picture, the team could turn toward other experienced coaches currently on the market.
That list starts with Barry Trotz who was recently fired by the Islanders with a year remaining on his contract.
Former Florida coach Pete DeBoer, who has led two teams to the Stanley Cup Finals since leaving the Panthers, is also looking for work after being let go by the Vegas Golden Knights.
John Tortorella was a name many picked up on when Quenneville first left and is still available.
Brunette, for now, remains the coach of the Panthers.
The team is going to go through its exit meetings and his voice is a valued and trusted one regardless of what comes next.
Even if Brunette does not return to coach the Panthers moving forward, it would not be surprising to see him remain with the organization either in a return to being an assistant coach or move into the front office.
Brunette had worked in a number of different capacities within the Minnesota Wild organization before being let go and deciding he wanted to give coaching a real shot.
As he told FHN earlier this season, Brunette said being able to coach under Quenneville was an opportunity he could not pass up.
“I (coached) before and decided if I was going to do it again, I was going to go and learn from the best,’’ he said. “I was fortunate enough that Q gave me the opportunity.”
Again, the Panthers have a lot of business to take care of this offseason and there will be plenty of changes to the roster moving forward.
Deciding who will coach the 2022-23 Panthers is one of the top decisions the team has to make moving forward.