Andrew Brunette is entering his second season as the Assistant Coach of the Florida Panthers. Before joining the Panthers, Brunette spent 5 seasons with the Minnesota Wild organization as a hockey operations advisor.

Brunette has an extensive playing career, spending time first in the ECHL (Hampton Roads Admirals) and AHL (Providence Bruins and Portland Pirates) before being called up to the NHL by the Washington Capitals during the 1995-96 season. Over the following few seasons, he played 62 games for the Capitals before being selected in the 1998 NHL Expansion Draft by the Nashville Predators, where notably, he scored the Predators’ first ever goal.

Over the next 12 seasons he spent his career playing for the Minnesota Wild, Colorado Avalanche, Chicago Blackhawks, and Atlanta Thrashers (now the Winnipeg Jets). Brunette was highly regarded for his physical durability and consistency, qualities which allowed him to play in 509 consecutive games between 2002 to 2009 without having to sit out due to injury. He scored his 500th NHL career point on October 26, 2007 and played three consecutive full 82-game seasons with the Avalanche.