It was the one major accolade missing from an otherwise immaculate coaching resume. On Thursday, Tampa Bay Lightning Head Coach Jon Cooper was officially named the recipient of the Jack Adams Award, presented annually to the NHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success.
Cooper, 58, led the Lightning to a 50-26-6 record and 106 points in the 2025-26 regular season, enough for second place in the Atlantic Division and a ninth consecutive playoff berth. The NHL Broadcasters’ Association votes on the Jack Adams Award upon the completion of the regular season.
With the victory, Cooper becomes just the second coach in Lightning franchise history to win the award, joining John Tortorella, who won it in 2004.
IT’S ABOUT TIME 👏
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) June 3, 2026
Jon Cooper is your 2026 Jack Adams Award Winner! pic.twitter.com/YucF9LmCfv
Under Cooper’s watch, Nikita Kucherov was named a finalist for the Hart Trophy as league MVP, leading Tampa Bay with 44 goals and an astonishing 130 points in 76 games. Furthermore, goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy was named a finalist for the Vezina Trophy after posting a 39-15-4 record and a .912 save percentage in 58 appearances.
Since replacing Guy Boucher midway through the 2012-13 season, Cooper has built an undeniable Hall of Fame resume. In addition to capturing the Presidents’ Trophy in 2019 and winning two Atlantic Division championships, he has guided the Lightning on four trips to the Stanley Cup Final, winning in 2020 and 2021, and losing in 2015 and 2022.