The Montreal Canadiens have exercised the two-year option on coach Martin St. Louis’ deal, putting him under contract for three more seasons, the team announced Wednesday.
Les Canadiens ont choisi d'exercer l'option de prolonger le contrat de Martin St-Louis pour deux années supplémentaires. L'entraîneur-chef sera de retour pour les trois prochaines saisons.
The Canadiens have chosen to exercise the option on Martin St-Louis' contract for two more… pic.twitter.com/MrokM7HKZd
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) April 17, 2024
St. Louis took over behind the Montreal bench in December 2022, replacing Dominique Ducharme. The Canadiens finished 30-36-16 and eighth in the Atlantic Division this season, St. Louis’ second full season as coach. Montreal has missed the playoffs three seasons in a row since reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 2021 when they lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Advertisement
St. Louis, without exaggeration, is the face of the Canadiens franchise. Everything they hope to accomplish, including reaching the playoffs next season, is centered on his hockey acumen, his exceptional communication skills and his ability to use those two traits to get his players to buy in to what he is selling them.
St. Louis, 48, scored 391 goals and 1,033 points in 1,134 games with the Calgary Flames, Lightning and New York Rangers. He won the Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay in 2003-04 and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018.
His Hall of Fame credentials as a player earn him the initial respect of his players, but that only grows when they work with him on a daily basis and see how much he cares about both the team’s and their success.
He is, however, entering a phase of the Canadiens build where there are both internal and external expectations to produce results and not just show progress from strictly a process standpoint.
General manager Kent Hughes said if they had any doubt in St. Louis’ ability to do that, they would have waited a year to exercise this option.
“I think Marty, the thing about him is every day, he proves something else,” executive vice-president of hockey ops Jeff Gorton said. “We don’t even know who he is yet, it feels like there’s still more. That’s hard to do in this business. I personally see the way he talks to the media, he treats everybody so well. He’s very respectful, he carries himself really well in front of the team, and then obviously the hockey part. There’s a lot to him, and I think he takes pride in the fact he’s always getting better, and we see that. He’s very impressive, and he’s the right person for what we’re doing and there’s not a day goes by that we’re not happy that he’s at the helm and he’s out front. He’s the point person for our franchise and I’m very proud of that.”
Advertisement
It’s a big endorsement for a young coach, but management clearly feels they have found the right person to guide their rebuild to fruition.
Gorton said he feels Montreal is becoming a place where players will want to play, which will be crucial this summer as they try to add talent, and he feels St. Louis is a big reason why. That tells you everything you need to know as to why the Canadiens have further committed to this coach.
Required reading
(Photo: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images)