Jeff Marek says Jon Cooper may see the coaching job of Canadian team as a challenge worth taking

But according to Jeff Marek, it might be the exact kind of challenge Jon Cooper would want to walk into.

Cooper has been the longest tenured bench boss in the league for years now, and he quietly re upped with the Lightning ahead of this season, so nobody is saying he is packing his bags tomorrow.

Still, the chatter around his future has followed him for two straight offseasons, and Marek gave it new life on the latest episode of The Sheet.

Marek did not dance around it. He suggested that Cooper sees the Maple Leafs gig as a mountain worth climbing rather than a job to avoid, the kind of pressure cooker that would test everything he has built a reputation on in Tampa.

Wyshynski jumped in right alongside him, and the two spent real time on it, weighing whether a two time Cup winner would trade a stable, contending roster for a fanbase and market that has chewed up bigger names before him.

Toronto has cycled through coaches for a decade looking for someone who can survive the market and win in April.

Cooper checks boxes nobody else on the market really does.

He has the rings, the longevity, and a track record of getting max effort out of star players without burning bridges.

Nothing here suggests his exit from Tampa is close.

But the fact that his name keeps surfacing for the one job every coach in hockey either wants or fears says something on its own.

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