Winnipeg Jets head coach Rick Bowness announced his retirement Monday.

Bowness is a finalist for the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's coach of the year after leading the Jets to a 52-24-6 record in 2023-24. The club lost to the Colorado Avalanche in five games in Round 1.

The 69-year-old took a month-long leave of absence from the team early in the season after his wife, Judy, was hospitalized by a seizure.

Bowness and Hall of Famers Scotty Bowman and Pat Quinn are the only bench bosses to hold an NHL head coaching position in five different decades. His first NHL job was as an assistant coach with the original Winnipeg Jets franchise for the 1984-85 campaign. He eventually became the head coach of the Jets for one season in 1988-89.

"Bones" also served as head coach of the Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators, New York Islanders, Arizona Coyotes, and Dallas Stars. The pinnacle of Bowness' coaching career came in 2020 when he led the Stars to the Stanley Cup Final before losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Bowness also went to the Stanley Cup Final in 2011 as an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks and in 2015 as an associate coach with the Lightning.

His 2,726 games as an NHL head coach or assistant are the most by anyone in league history.

The Jets are now one of seven NHL teams without a full-time head coach.

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The puck drops Monday in Game 1 between the Bruins and Panthers. Let's take a closer look at the best ways to attack the opener.

Aleksander Barkov: Over 2.5 shots

Barkov has a nice shooting history against the Bruins when playing in Florida. He's gone over his total in five of the past seven home games vs. Boston, averaging 3.4 shots per contest on upwards of seven attempts, which is very steady volume.

That trend should continue in Game 1. Panthers head coach Paul Maurice has opted to move Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe to Barkov's line, which should help bring out the best in Barkov when it comes to shooting the puck.

Dating back to last season, Barkov's shot rates when playing with Tkachuk are drastically higher than with Sam Reinhart or any other winger.

It's also worth noting: Sam Bennett remains out due to injury, and Barkov averages an extra minute per game without Bennett in the lineup. More ice time leads to more shooting opportunities.

Odds: -140 (playable to -150)

Matthew Tkachuk: Over 0.5 assists

Tkachuk's on an absolute heater at home, recording at least one assist in 20 of his past 30 games in Florida, which equates to a remarkable 67% success rate.

He has great chemistry with Verhaeghe at even strength and handles the puck a ton down low on the power play. This leads to Tkachuk facilitating a ton of offense for teammates in high-danger areas and, when they convert, plenty of assists.

Paying with Barkov rather than Bennett should help Tkachuk, too. Barkov scores more goals than Bennett and converts on his chances at a higher rate (Barkov's career shooting percentage is about 3% higher).

Playing big minutes at five-on-five with two strong finishers and a key role on a dangerous power play should mean Tkachuk creates a bundle of chances in this game. Look for at least one of them to find the back of the net.

Odds: -115 (playable to -135)

Pavel Zacha: Over 0.5 points

The Bruins enjoyed plenty of success against the Panthers during the regular season and Zacha was a big reason why. He put up five points over four games, finding the scoresheet at least once on three occasions.

Although Zacha's coming off a quiet series against Toronto, I'm not worried about him.

He remains on the top line with David Pastrnak and continues to share the ice with the lethal sniper on the power play. As long as Zacha's role doesn't change, he'll have plenty of chances to get involved offensively and help create goals.

Pastrnak's recorded a point in seven of his past nine against Florida. Considering Zacha is attached to Pastrnak's hip in every situation, Pastrnak's production correlates nicely with Zacha.

I like the idea of getting exposure to one of the game's best offensive players in Pastrnak at a much more generous price point by way of Zacha.

Odds: -110 (playable to -125)

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. You can follow him on X at @ToddCordell.

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