Since joining the front office and coaching ranks in 2012-13, Andrew Brunette has been a part of a playoff team in nine out of 11 seasons and 10 if you include the 2019-20 Florida Panthers that got eliminated in the qualifying round.
The Brunette File
- Born: August 24, 1973, Valley East, Ontario, Canada
- Currently: Associate Head Coach with the New Jersey Devils
- 2019-20 to 2021-22: served as an assistant coach for two years before leading the Florida Panthers to the Presidents' Trophy in 2021-22 as interim head coach
- 2012-13 to 2018-19: served as special assistant to the GM, assistant coach, assistant GM, and Director of Player Personnel for the Minnesota Wild
- 1995-96 to 2011-12: Appeared in 1,110 NHL games for several teams, including the Washington Capitals, Minnesota Wild, and Colorado Avalanche
After taking over for a 7-0-0 Panthers team in 2021-22 following the resignation of head coach Joel Quenneville, Brunette coached the Cats to a 51-18-6 record, helping them win the Presidents' Trophy. After a six-game first-round series victory over the Washington Capitals, the Tampa Bay Lightning swept the Panthers. That was the last time Brunette was a bench boss.
He wasn't out of work for long, though, as he took the associate coach job for the New Jersey Devils, who had the biggest single-season turnaround in NHL history in 2022-23, going 52-22-8.
In New Jersey, Brunette's task was to run the power play, and he did a fine job of that, as the Devils went from the NHL's 28th-ranked power play (15.6%) in 2021-22 to the league's 13th-best power play (21.9%) in 2022-23.
In 2021-22, Brunette's Panthers boasted the league's fifth-best power play (24.4%) after finishing 15th (20.5%) in that department in 2020-21 and 10th (21.3%).
In two years as an assistant coach for the Wild, their power play ranked 27th (15.9%) and ranked 15th (18.5%) in 2015-16.
The Blue Jackets have struggled on the power play throughout their history, with the best single-season mark coming in 2014-15 at 21.7% and they haven't eclipsed the 19% mark since 2016-17.
The 49-year-old Burnette has been around winning teams for years and would hopefully be able to bring that pedigree to Columbus should he be hired.