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On Tuesday, the New Jersey Devils introduced their next head coach Peter DeBoer, whose only NHL coaching experience has been leading the Florida Panthers through playoff-free campaigns the last three seasons. The Devils missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 1996 after a 9-22-2 start that got first-year coach John MacLean fired in December.

DeBoer had a 103-107-36 in his three years with the Panthers, with 41 of those wins coming in his first season. “While I’m not proud of the actual record [in Florida], I’m proud of the way we played,” the new coach said at his introduction to the press. “I can tell you I’m a much better coach having gone through the learning experience down there. … Obviously we want to be back in the playoffs. Having seen [the Devils] a few times in the second half of the year, they played very well.”

The Devils finished last season 29-17-3 under veteran coach Jacques Lemaire, but he preferred going back to retirement to sticking around another year.

“Peter DeBoer is an individual who I have watched coach over the past two decades at the junior, international, and professional levels,” Devils CEO Lou Lamoriello said in a statement released Tuesday. “His teams have always been well-prepared and disciplined, while maximizing their effort each and every night. I am looking forward to working with him.”