St. Louis signs new four-year contract with Canadiens
St. Louis was named a finalist for the Jack Adams Award, as NHL coach of the year in 2024-25, finishing third in the voting behind Spencer Carbery of the Washington Capitals and Scott Arniel of the Winnipeg Jets.
Montreal is 163-155-47 in five seasons under St. Louis, including 48-24-10 last season when it finished third in the Atlantic Division and reached the Eastern Conference Final before losing to the Carolina Hurricanes, the eventual Stanley Cup champions, in five games.
A forward who had 1,033 points (391 goals, 642 assists) in 1,134 games during 16 seasons in the NHL with the Calgary Flames, Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers, St. Louis was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018. He initially was hired as interim coach by Montreal on Feb. 9, 2022, and named the 32nd coach in Canadiens history June 1, 2022.
The Canadiens have improved in each season under St. Louis. After going 14-19-4 in his initial 37 games as coach in 2021-22, Montreal was 31-46-6 in 2022-23, 30-36-16 in 2023-24 and 40-31-11 in 2023-24. The Canadiens qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs that season for the first time since losing to the Lightning in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final before losing to the Capitals in five games in the Eastern Conference Final.
