Paul Maurice left the Winnipeg Jets on his own terms. We do not know if he had many conversations about resigning, but he chose to resign instead of waiting to get fired. This allows for Maurice to have more control over his future if he decides to coach again because he is not still being paid by the Jets and therefore they do not need to be asked permission to talk to him.
Outside of that, this is a complete shocking decision publicly and with very interesting timing to say the least. The middle of the season with a game that night is a shocking time to resign. For it to come right before the holiday break is also a surprise. However, it was a necessary change. As Maurice noted, the players needed a new voice and he is allowing the Jets to hire a new voice for them. It is unknown for how long Dave Lowry will be the interim head coach, but he is fully capable of running the bench while a proper coaching search goes on and by proper I mean not interviewing a bunch of retrends who have had 50 jobs before being hired by their new team. There is a whole world out there, time to look beyond the normal hires.
When it comes to the circumstances of Maurice resigning, there are parts that we will never know. The Jets allowed him to leave on his own terms and will start searching for a new coach I am assuming immediately. However, it might be hard to find a replacement until after the Christmas break which will be commencing for the Jets a couple days early as their game against the Nashville Predators has been postponed due to COVID hitting the Predators hard. Because of that, the Jets get an extended break and will make up the game at some other time (possibly during the yet undecided Olympic break).
It is hard to understand the mindset of Paul Maurice when he resigned from his role as head coach and yet it is easy to understand at the same time. He clearly wanted out and he might have known that he could be fired at any time. This allowed him to leave with dignity. He chose to leave on his own time and his own terms. It sounded like this was something he thought about for a while before doing it. Thankfully the Jets accepted his resignation and everyone can start to move forward.