# List of Tampa Bay Lightning head coaches

The Tampa Bay Lightning are an American professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Hockey League (NHL). Often referred to as the Bolts, the team joined the NHL in 1992 as an expansion team, and have won the Stanley Cup championship in 2004, 2020 and 2021. Having first played in the Expo Hall, and later in the ThunderDome (now known as Tropicana Field), the Lightning have played their home games at the Ice Palace, currently titled Amalie Arena, since 1996. The Lightning are owned by Jeffrey Vinik, Julien BriseBois is their general manager, and Steven Stamkos is the team captain.
There have been nine head coaches for the Lightning franchise. The team's first head coach was Terry Crisp, who coached for five seasons. John Tortorella, the only American to head coach the team, was the first Lightning coach to have won the Prince of Wales Trophy, the Stanley Cup, and to have been awarded the Jack Adams Award, all of which happened in the 2003–04 season. Steve Ludzik and Jon Cooper are the only two head coaches who have spent their entire NHL head coaching careers with the Lightning.
Jon Cooper is the team's current head coach, having been named to the position on March 25, 2013. Cooper is the only head coach of the Lightning to win the Prince of Wales Trophy four times. Under Cooper, the franchise won its second Stanley Cup championship in 2020 and third championship in 2021. Cooper is the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular season wins (480), playoff games coached (139), and the most playoff-games won (84).

## Key

| # | Number of coaches |
| GC | Games coached |
| W | Wins = 2 points |
| L | Losses = 0 points |
| T | Ties = 1 point |
| OT | Overtime/shootout losses = 1 point |
| PTS | Points |
| Win% | Winning percentage |
| * | Spent entire NHL head coaching career with the Lightning |

## Coaches

Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2023–24 NHL season.
Head coaches of the Tampa Bay Lightning :
| # | Name | Term | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Achievements | Reference |
| # | Name | Term | GC | W | L | T/OT | PTS | PTS% | GC | W | L | Win% | Achievements | Reference |
| 1 | Terry Crisp | 1992–1998 | 391 | 142 | 204 | 45 | 329 | .421 | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | | |
| 2 | Rick Paterson* | 1998 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | .000 | — | — | — | — | | |
| 3 | Jacques Demers | 1998–1999 | 147 | 34 | 96 | 17 | 85 | .289 | — | — | — | — | | |
| 4 | Steve Ludzik* | 1999–2001 | 121 | 31 | 67 | 23 | 85 | .351 | — | — | — | — | | |
| 5 | John Tortorella | 2001–2008 | 535 | 239 | 222 | 74 | 552 | .516 | 45 | 24 | 21 | .533 | Stanley Cup championship: 2004 Jack Adams Award winner: 2003–04 Prince of Wales Trophy winner: 2004 | |
| 6 | Barry Melrose | 2008 | 16 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 14 | .438 | — | — | — | — | | |
| 7 | Rick Tocchet | 2008–2010 | 148 | 53 | 69 | 26 | 132 | .446 | — | — | — | — | | |
| 8 | Guy Boucher | 2010–2013 | 196 | 97 | 79 | 20 | 214 | .546 | 18 | 11 | 7 | .611 | | |
| 9 | Jon Cooper* | 2013–present | 879 | 525 | 279 | 75 | 1,125 | .640 | 150 | 87 | 63 | .580 | NHL All-Star Game: 2018, 2019 Presidents' Trophy winner: 2018–19 Stanley Cup championship: 2020, 2021 Prince of Wales Trophy winner: 2015, 2020, 2021, 2022 | |