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Florida Panthers fill out Paul Maurice’s coaching staff with three new assistant coaches

Paul Maurice officially finished putting together his coaching staff Wednesday when the Florida Panthers hired three new assistant coaches, including one who worked for Maurice with the Winnipeg Jets for the past six years.

Jamie Kompon, Sylvain Lefebvre and Myles Fee are all headed to the Panthers, joining Tuomo Ruutu and Robb Tallas, both of whom Maurice retained, to serve as assistant coaches for the new coach.

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Kompon is the one coach who has experience working with Maurice. The 55-year-old Canadian had been an assistant coach with the Jets since 2016, helping Winnipeg reach the Stanley Cup playoffs in four consecutive seasons from 2018 to 2021. He also previously was an assistant for coach Joel Quenneville with the Chicago Blackhawks from 2012 to 2014 and an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Kings from 2006 to 2012. He won back-to-back Stanley Cups as an assistant coach with the Kings in 2012 and the Blackhawks in 2013.

Lefebvre comes to Florida after spending the past three years as an assistant coach with AHL San Diego. The 54-year-old Canadian also previously served as an assistant for the Colorado Avalanche and briefly had a job with the Columbus Blue Jackets before being removed from his post in 2021 after he opted not to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, rendering him unable to fulfill his full duties as an assistant under NHL guidelines.

Fee spent the past three years as a video coach with the Buffalo Sabres. It was his first NHL coaching job and the 41-year-old Canadian previously was an assistant coach for AHL Charlotte from 2016 to 2019, winning a Calder Cup in his final season.

Ruutu remains an assistant coach, Tallas remains the goaltending coach and Georgie Kinnear remains the coach of the Charlotte Checkers, who are entering their third year as the Panthers’ American Hockey League affiliate. Florida also announced a three-year extension for Kinnear on Wednesday.

The Panthers hired Maurice, 55, in June after Quenneville resigned early last season because of revelations about his role in Chicago’s mishandling of a 2010 sexual assault allegation and general manager Bill Zito opted not to give former interim coach Andrew Brunette, who became a finalist for the Jack Adams Award, the full-time job.