Panthers Have A New Head Coach On Their Radar

 

A new name has emerged in the Florida Panthers search for a new head coach, according to Frank Seravalli.

Hearing one additional name has surfaced in #FlaPanthers coaching search: Jukka Jalonen.

Jalonen has coached 30+ years in Finland. #Suomi national team coach since 2008. Olympic gold + 3x World Champs.

Tuomo Ruutu(🇫🇮) was the only FLA assistant coach retained last week. #nhlfi

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) June 20, 2022

Although not a familiar name among NHL head coaches, Jalonen has quite the resume. Jukka Jalonen led Finland to World Championship gold in 2011, 2019, and 2022. He has fifteen total medals in international competition, including six gold medals. 

The Finnish Hockey Hall of Famer is a three-time KHL all-star coach, and a two-time Finnish coach of the year. Quite an impressive list of achievements for the fifty-nine year old coach. 

The President's Trophy winning Florida Panthers set a franchise record in points (122) this past season, and scored more goals than any other team in the last twenty-six years. However, they were quickly swept by the Tampa Bay Lightning in Round 2 of the Playoffs this year, which lead to a a cleaning out of their entire coaching staff. 

It is interesting to note that Finnish-born assistant coach, Tuomo Ruutu, was the only coach that Florida kept on board.

The Florida Panthers have been busy this off-season, interviewing big names such as Barry Trotz, Rick Tocchet and Paul Maurice. They certainly have options, and Jukka Jalonen is an intriguing name to keep an eye on in this situation. 

Photo Credit: George Walker IV-USA TODAY Sports