Canadiens: There’s Another Big Contract Canadiens Fans Should Worry About

With just over two weeks left before the Montreal Canadiens’ trading camp officially kicks off, RFAs Arber Xhekaj and Samuel Bolduc have yet to be signed to new contracts. While some believe it may be because they're part of an impending trade, it could also be that negotiations are taking longer than expected. But there’s another contract Habs fans should worry about: that of Martin St-Louis.

While not everyone was convinced that St-Louis was the man for the job when he was hired in February 2022 because of his lack of experience behind a professional team’s bench, he has since proven the naysayers that he could more than handle the role. Since taking on the role, the former NHLer has taken his team through the various stages of a rebuilt and has shown himself to be a great teacher for young players.

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As his young team progressed, the coach raised his expectations and demands, shifting from a pure development stage to one focused on results. Gone are the days when the Canadiens were just trying to gain experience; now, they are trying to win and make a name for themselves as Stanley Cup contenders.

Much like his players, St-Louis struggled the first time he took them to the playoffs. Their first series against the Washington Capitals was short-lived as the inexperienced group was eliminated in five games. The following year, though, the coach proved up to the challenge in the first round against Jon Cooper and the Tampa Bay Lightning. After sticking to his guns in believing that his first line could figure out the match-up games, he eventually realized that it needed help, and he got the better of Cooper in the match-up duel, leading the Canadiens to the second round.

The duel against the Buffalo Sabers wasn’t always pretty, but the Habs came out on top after a thriller of a seven-game series. The team ran out of gas in the Eastern Conference Final, as St-Louis had no answer for the Carolina Hurricanes’ perfectly executed system. Still, taking such a young team this far was an achievement, and when he spoke to the media at the end of the playoffs, GM Kent Hughes said a contract extension was in the cards for the bench boss.

The results have been great, players have repeatedly stated that they like playing for the Hall of Famer and it would be highly surprising if the pilot was to start the season without an extension in his back pocket. Is this a question of the Canadiens saving the signing announcement to have something to talk about at the September 14 golf tournament? It could very well be, just like Ivan Demidov’s contract extension took some of the attention away from the fact that Hughes didn’t make any signings in free agency, a St-Louis contract extension would put the projectors on the coach instead of on the GM who has yet to manage to make any needle moving deal this summer.

When St-Louis was initially appointed as coach on February 9, 2022, he was hired on an interim basis, but he was officially named the 32nd head coach in franchise history on June 1, 2022. He had a contract that covered the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. On April 24, 2024, the Canadiens announced that they had chosen to exercise their option on St-Louis’ contact and that he would be back for three seasons. Now that two of those are in the books, it’s time for the coach to put pen to paper again, but aside from Derek Lalonde’s hiring, it’s been all quiet on the coaching front this summer.

Starting the season without a new contract wouldn’t be great for stability and could make players wonder if St-Louis is all in, as they are. Last season, the coach mentioned that he was looking forward to this year because his wife could finally join him in Montreal with the couple’s three children no longer living at home in Connecticut. If anything, that new reality should make it even easier for him to commit to the team.

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