Top five Jack Adams Award candidates for NHL Coach of the Year

It’s almost Christmas, and the NHL standings remain as tight as ever. Because of that, certain awards are hard to predict, given that any winning or losing streak can quickly change a team’s fortunes. 

That’s particularly the case for the Jack Adams Award, as so many head coaches around the league deserve to be recognized in Coach of the Year conversations. Putting together such a list has never been so difficult, and a handful of names left off could easily be in the mix when all is said and done.

That being said, five head coaches currently stand above the rest, so who are the top candidates to win the Jack Adams Award? Let’s dive into it. 

Jon Cooper, Tampa Bay Lightning 

The fact that Cooper (two-time Stanley Cup champion) has never won a Jack Adams just goes to show you how the system works, often rewarding lesser teams that overachieve. That being said, the Lightning bench boss should get his recognition this time around, having kept a Tampa Bay team decimated by injuries not just afloat, but atop the Atlantic Division.

Jared Bednar, Colorado Avalanche

Coaching a team with center Nathan MacKinnon (55 points) and defenseman Cale Makar (38 points) would normally result in Bednar getting overlooked, but not this year. The Avalanche roster is very similar to last year’s, yet they’re on pace for 24 more points in the standings (136-point pace), so the head coach deserves just as much praise as the players. 

Joel Quenneville, Anaheim Ducks 

In his first year back behind the bench since 2021-22, Quenneville has put the Ducks back on the map in the Western Conference quicker than anyone could have expected. All of Anaheim’s top young talent has exploded to start the season, and that can be attributed to the arrival of the three-time Stanley Cup champion head coach. If it can keep this up and make a return to the playoffs, Coach Q will undoubtedly be a finalist for the award.

Marco Sturm, Boston Bruins 

Expectations were not high for Boston entering the season, with some feeling it’d be in contention for a lottery pick in the draft. Sturm, a former Bruin, took over a team with little talent and somehow has it one point back of the Atlantic Division lead. Not to mention, he weathered an October storm (3-6-0 start) that could have derailed the season before it really began. It’s been an extremely impressive start to his time behind an NHL bench.

Patrick Roy, New York Islanders 

Winning the 2025 draft lottery to land defenseman Matthew Schaefer (23 points) has been a massive boost, though Roy can’t be forgotten when talking about the Islanders’ success. New York has quietly pushed its way into the top three in the Metropolitan Division, and Roy has reestablished the team’s identity as one of the toughest outs in hockey. This won’t be a team anyone will want to face come playoff time.