The Canadiens will exercise an option on the contract of head coach Martin St. Louis

The Montreal Canadiens have completed a two-year contract extension with head coach Martin St.Louis, reassigning him to the team for the next three seasons.

Montreal temporarily brought Dominique Ducharme to St. Louis in February 2022 after being fired.

The 48-year-old Laval, Que., native was named head coach at the end of that season, his first role on the NHL bench.

The Canadiens have missed the playoffs three straight this season after finishing last in the Atlantic Division with a 30-36-16 record.

St.Louis has a 75-100-26 record as head coach while the Canadiens are undergoing a rebuild.

Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018, St.Louis won the 2004 Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning, the 2004 Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's MVP and scored 1,033 points in a decorated playing career before retiring in 2015.

— This Canadian Press report was first published on April 17, 2024.