The Jack Adams Award for the NHL’s coach of the year has an Eastern Conference flair in 2025-26.
The three finalists are the Tampa Bay Lightning‘s Jon Cooper, Pittsburgh Penguins‘ Dan Muse and Buffalo Sabres‘ Lindy Ruff. The award is voted on by NHL broadcasters and the winner will be announced at a later date.
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Cooper and Ruff are veteran coaches and Muse is a first-year NHL head coach. Cooper extended the Lightning’s playoff streak amid trying circumstances and Muse and Ruff ended their teams’ playoff droughts, 14 seasons in Ruff’s case.
Here’s what to know about the Jack Adams Award finalists and the rollout for announcements for the NHL’s major awards.
Jack Adams Award finalists
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Jon Cooper, Tampa Bay Lightning: Cooper led Tampa Bay (106 points) to its ninth consecutive playoff berth.. He became the second-fastest head coach in league history to reach 600 career wins (1,005 games), behind only Scotty Bowman (1,002). Cooper, 58, a three-time finalist has never won.
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Dan Muse, Pittsburgh Penguins: Muse led Pittsburgh (98 points) to second-place in the Metropolitan Division and its first playoff berth since 2021-22. His 41 wins were tied for the third-most by a Penguins head coach in their first season with the team. Muse, 43, is vying to become the first rookie head coach to win the trophy since Patrick Roy in 2013-14.
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Lindy Ruff, Buffalo Sabres: Ruff, in the second season of his second stint behind the Buffalo bench, guided the Sabres (109 points) to their first playoff berth since 2010-11 and first division title since 2009-10. Buffalo posted a 30-point improvement over 2024-25 to rise from 26th to fourth in the overall league standings. Ruff, 66, is a Jack Adams Award finalist for the fifth time and won in 2005-06.
Who will win the Jack Adams Award?
Cooper has never won before, so that might have worked in his favor, especially since the Lightning‘s Victor Hedman, Brayden Point and Ryan McDonagh missed significant time.
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Jack Adams snub
No quibbling with the three finalists, but Marco Sturm could also make the list. He helped the Bruins quickly get back to the playoffs in his first season in Boston. The team finished with 100 points.
NHL awards finalists announcement schedule
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Friday, May 1: Jack Adams Award (coach): Jon Cooper, Dan Muse, Lindy Ruff
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Monday, May 4: Masterton Trophy (perseverance)
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Tuesday, May 5: Calder Trophy (rookie)
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Wednesday, May 6: Selke Trophy (defensive forward)
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Thursday, May 7: Norris Trophy (defenseman)
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Friday, May 8: Hart Trophy (MVP)
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Monday, May 11: Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award (impact on community, culture or society)
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jack Adams Awards finalists announced. Who will be NHL coach of year?
