Jon Cooper, head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning, won the NHL Jack Adams Award on Wednesday, June 4, 2026 [5].
The honor recognizes the best coach in the league for the 2025-26 season [4]. For Cooper, the award validates a long tenure of success and marks a significant milestone in his career, as he had not previously received the honor [3].
Cooper has led the Lightning for 14 seasons [1]. During that time, he guided the franchise to two Stanley Cup championships [2]. Despite these achievements, the Coach of the Year trophy had eluded him until this announcement.
The NHL announced the award in early June, capping a season where Cooper's leadership remained central to the team's performance. The decision reflects his sustained ability to keep the Lightning competitive over more than a decade of service.
This is the first Jack Adams Award of Cooper's career [3]. The award is traditionally given to the coach deemed to have contributed the most to his team's success, regardless of whether that success was expected or an overachievement.
By securing the award after 14 seasons, Cooper joins an elite group of coaches who have balanced long-term organizational stability with championship-level results. The timing of the award follows a period of consistent excellence in Tampa Bay.
“Jon Cooper, head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning, won the NHL Jack Adams Award”
The granting of the Jack Adams Award to Jon Cooper after 14 seasons and two championships suggests a shift in how the NHL recognizes coaching excellence. Rather than focusing solely on short-term turnaround stories, the award acknowledges the difficulty of maintaining a high-performance culture over a decade of leadership in a salary-cap era.
