Three-time Stanley Cup champion head coach Joel Quenneville was named head coach of the Florida Panthers Monday.
Quenneville, fired by the Chicago Blackhawks 15 games into the regular season, led Chicago to Cups in 2010, 2013, and 2015. In his 19 full seasons as an NHL head coach in St. Louis, Colorado, and Chicago, the Windsor, Ontario native led his team to the postseason 17 times. Quenneville's 889 regular season wins are the second most in NHL history.
With Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau and several other young stars on the roster, Quenneville will step into a situation that has him positioned to see results right away.
His hiring also significantly increases the odds Artemi Panarin will sign with the Panthers in the offseason. The Blue Jackets winger, who's soon to be an unrestricted free agent owns a condo in South Florida and played two seasons under Quenneville in Chicago, winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league's top rookie in 2016.
