In today’s News & Notes, The Florida Panthers have hired Joel Quenneville as their new head coach, Jay Bouwmeester has signed a contract extension with the St. Louis Blues and Ray Shero has signed a multi-year extension with the New Jersey Devils.
Panthers Hire Quenneville
The Panthers bolstered their coaching staff in a major way Monday when they announced the hiring of Quenneville. The former Chicago Blackhawk’s coach brings everything the Panthers insisted they were looking for in an experienced coach with a Stanley Cup pedigree. Not only that but Quenneville also has familiarity with Panthers’ president and general manager Dale Tallon from their time in Chicago.
Quenneville joins a Panthers team that just fired Bob Boughner after he led the team to a 79-62-22 record over two seasons. Quenneville comes into the fold in Florida as one of the most prolific coaches in the history of the NHL. The numbers back that up as well as he’s compiled a record of 890-532-77-137 and has reached the postseason in 18 of his 22 seasons as a coach. He ranks second in all-time wins behind only Scott Bowman who compiled 1,244.
Above all, though, Quenneville brings a winning pedigree as he led the Blackhawks to Stanley Cup victories in 2010, 2013 and 2015.
Blues Extend Bouwmeester
The Blues and Bouwmeester agreed to a one-year contract extension worth $3.25 million, the team announced Monday. The 35-year-old Bouwmeester is in the final year of a five-year contract worth $27 million that carried a $5.4 million cap hit.
“It was good to get it done and out of the way,” said Bouwmeester after Monday’s practice. “I’m happy, I like it here and I’ve never shied away from that. It’s a good place for family and all that, and we have a good team. I’m lucky and I’m happy.”
Bouwmeester may not be the same defender he once was but he still managed to score three goals and 17 points in 78 games this season, the highest goal and point total he’s recorded since 2015-16.
“We started to talk at the end of the February a little bit, and I wasn’t sure whether he wanted to play,” Blues General Manager Doug Armstrong said. “I asked him to take some time to confirm that his body was still up to it – he’s played a long time. He came back and said he’d like to play. We started to work towards it… we’re happy.”
Bouwmeester will remain with the Blues for one more season and both sides will likely revisit contract talks next year to see if Bouwmeester still has anything left in the tank and if he even wants to continue palying.
Devils Extend Shero
Despite finishing with one of the worst records in the NHL for the 2018-19 season, the Devils obviously felt comfortable giving Shero a multi-year contract extension for the work he’s done since joining the team in 2015. The team would announce a new multi-year extension for him Monday but would not reveal further details.
Shero has made multiple moves since joining the Devils but none bigger than the trade he swung to acquire Taylor Hall from the Edmonton Oilers. Despite these various moves, ranging from major to minor transactions, the Devils have only made the playoffs once in Shero’s four years with the team. He’s been given a vote of confidence from the team, however, and now he’ll work to prove them right.