Most wins without a Stanley Cup: Where Paul Maurice ranks on all-time coaching list

Bryan Murphy

Most wins without a Stanley Cup: Where Paul Maurice ranks on all-time coaching list image

Paul Maurice has been in the NHL a long time. In fact, he's been behind an NHL bench almost every year since 1995 — an incredibly impressive feat. 

In South Florida, he was aiming to do something not only the team never did before, but he neither had he — win a Stanley Cup. They did just that in 2024. 

Maurice's Panthers squad defeated the Oilers in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, giving the Florida franchise its first Stanley Cup. The longtime head coach finished his second year at the helm of the Panthers on a high note, proving to be the right fit.

Florida made a run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2023, eventually falling to Vegas in five games. However, Maurice and his crew got redemption this year. 

Maurice has coached plenty of elite teams in his NHL tenure. He started with the Hartford Whalers and stuck with the team during its relocation to Carolina, where the club became the Hurricanes. He was briefly with the Maple Leafs, and then made his mark as head coach of the Jets. 

STANLEY CUP FINAL: TSN PREDICTIONS | AI PROJECTIONS

Here is more to know about Maurice's coaching record and Stanley Cup Final history. 

Has Paul Maurice won a Stanley Cup?

Maurice had never won a Stanley Cup as a head coach in the NHL until 2024. 

The longtime bench boss in hockey made the third Stanley Cup Final appearance of his career when his Panthers played the Oilers, finally coming on top after going 0-for-2 to start his career. 

His first time coaching in the Stanley Cup Final came in 2002 when he was the head coach in Carolina. The Hurricanes lost to the Red Wings in that championship series. 

It took Maurice more than two decades to reach the Stanley Cup Final again, which was last season with the Panthers. In his first season at the helm in Florida, he helped guide the Panthers on a Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2023, only to fall to the Golden Knights in five games. 

MORE: Why do Panthers fans throw rats on the ice?

Paul Maurice coaching record

Over the span of 1,848 regular season games coached, Maurice owns an all-time record of 869-736-144. He began coaching back when games could still end in a tie, which he has 99 of.

That gives him a winning percentage of .470. 

In the playoffs, Maurice has been behind the bench for 137 postseason games in his career. He owns a record of 70-67 in those games heading into the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. 

NHL coaching all-time wins list

Maurice has been an NHL head coach since 1995. During that time, there has only been one season where he was not on an NHL bench, which came during the 2012-13 season. After he was fired by the Hurricanes in 2012, he went over to Russia to coach Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the KHL. He came back to North America after one year and was hired by the Jets in the middle of the 2013-14 season. 

With as lengthy of a tenure as Maurice has in the NHL, that means his 869 wins makes him one of the winningest head coaches in league history. Only Scotty Bowman, Joel Quenneville and Barry Trotz have more wins in their coaching careers than Maurice. 

MORE: Have the Panthers ever won the Stanley Cup?

In fact, Maurice owns the unfortunate record of holding the most victories of any NHL head coach without ever winning the Stanley Cup. Bowman won nine Stanley Cups, Quenneville has three and Trotz earned one. 

Here is where Maurice ranks on the all-time wins list in the NHL. 

RankCoachTeamsGamesWins
1Scotty BowmanSTL, MON, BUF. PIT, DET2,1411,244
2Joel QuennevilleSTL, COL, CHI, FLA1,768969
3Barry TrotzNSH, WSH, NYI1,812914
4Paul MauriceHFD/CAR, TOR, WPG, FLA1,848869
5Lindy RuffBUF, DAL, NJD1,774864
6Ken HitchcockDAL, PHI, CBJ, STL, EDM1,598849
7Peter LavioletteNYI, CAR, PHI, NSH, WSH, NYR1,512807
8Al ArbourSTL, NYI1,607782
9John TortorellaTBL, NYR, VAN, CBJ, PHI1,547742
10Darryl SutterCHI, SJS, LAK, CGY1,479737

One disclaimer: the NHL does not count playoff wins when accounting for "career" wins. However, if you were to combine both playoff and regular season, Maurice would have 939, which puts him fourth on the all-time list. 

Bryan Murphy

Bryan Murphy Photo

Bryan Murphy joined The Sporting News in 2022 as the NHL/Canada content producer. Previously he worked for NBC Sports on their national news desk reporting on breaking news for the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL, in addition to covering the 2020 and 2022 Olympic Games. A graduate of Quinnipiac University, he spent time in college as a beat reporter covering the men’s ice hockey team.