Jon Cooper Wins 2026 Jack Adams Award

Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper has added another crowning achievement to a storied NHL career.

Cooper was announced Wednesday as the 2026 recipient of the Jack Adams Award, granted each season to the NHL coach “adjudged to have contributed the most to his team’s success.” Voted on by members of the NHL Broadcasters’ Association, Cooper becomes just the second coach in franchise history to capture the honor, joining John Tortorella (2004).

This marked Cooper’s third time as a finalist for the award. Voters ultimately selected the veteran bench boss over fellow 2026 finalists Dan Muse (PIT) and Lindy Ruff (BUF).

The league’s longest-tenured head coach guided the Lightning to a ninth consecutive playoff berth in 2025-26. Tampa Bay navigated an injury-filled campaign to finish with a 50-26-6 record, securing 106 standings points to tie for fifth overall in the NHL. It marks the organization’s first 50-win season since 2021-22.

Under Cooper’s stewardship this year, the Lightning finished among the NHL’s elite, ranking near the top of the league in wins, goals scored, goals against, goal differential, road wins, regulation wins, and comeback wins, as well as penalty kill percentage.

The award puts a bow on a milestone-heavy season for the prospective Hall of Fame coach. Cooper coached his 1,000th career NHL game, all with Tampa Bay, on December 31, and quickly followed that up on January 12 by becoming the second-fastest coach in league history to reach 600 wins with a 5-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.