Florida Panthers fire head coach Bob Boughner

April 7 (UPI) -- The Florida Panthers have fired head coach Bob Boughner after a season in which the team finished 36-32-14, missing the playoffs by 13 points.

Panthers President of Hockey Operations & general manager Dale Tallon made the announcement Sunday morning that Boughner will not be back next season.

"We made a tough decision today and have relieved Bob Boughner of his duties as head coach," said Tallon.

"We didn't meet expectations this season and share responsibility for that fact. After careful evaluation, we have determined that this is a necessary first step for our young team and we will seek to identify a transformative, experienced head coach with Stanley Cup pedigree to lead our team going forward. "We're grateful to Bob, Paul and their families for their hard work and their dedication to the Panthers organization and we wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors."

Boughner replaced interim coach Tom Rowe, who coached Florida for 61 games during the 2016-17 season.

In two seasons with Boughner, 48, as coach, the Panthers went 79-62-22. The team went 44-30-8 last season with 96 points, missing the playoffs by a single point.

There was excitement about the Panthers after going 25-9-2 to end last season, but they never got on track, and at one point in January lost seven straight games.

Multiple reports say that the Panthers are eyeing Joel Quenneville, who led the Chicago Blackhawks to three Stanley Cups before before being fired in November, to be the club's next head coach.

Florida has missed the postseason in 16 of its last 18 seasons.