Crawford, Lemaire Not on Panther List for Now

Florida Panther General Manager Bryan Murray, still early in the process of deciding on a coach, gave little indication Friday that two recent Stanley Cup winners will get much consideration.

Recent resignations by Colorado’s Marc Crawford and New Jersey’s Jacques Lemaire have shaken up the list of candidates for NHL coaching vacancies.

However, it’s possible neither will get a call from Florida.

“At this point, we have a list of a few people. I hope we don’t go too much beyond that,” Murray said.

Crawford’s name has already been linked with Toronto, though Mike Murphy remains the Maple Leafs’ coach and Crawford has a year left on his contract with the Avalanche.

Lemaire, who brought the Cup to New Jersey in 1995, stepped down as coach three weeks ago. Murray said he got the impression that Lemaire, 52, who remains in the Devils’ front office, was not interested in returning to the bench.

*

One coach who is keeping his job is the Carolina Hurricanes’ Paul Maurice. General Manager Jim Rutherford said he is being retained even though he has yet to make the playoffs in his first three seasons.

The Hurricanes, who moved from Hartford, have missed the playoffs the past six seasons, the NHL’s longest current drought.