BreakingNews:Martin St.Louis Confirmed But Gives Conditions To Serve…
Montreal is not considered to be an attractive market for NHL free agents.
Weather, taxes, language issues and the intense scrutiny on the team from fans and media in a city that lives and breathes bleu-blanc-rouge are among the reasons.
The fact the Canadiens haven’t been very good for an extended period of time — with one unlikely trip to the Stanley Cup final during a COVID season in 2021 — doesn’t help.
But having Martin St. Louis as a head coach could make Montreal more attractive to free agents in the future.
“I hope so,” Canadiens goalie Jake Allen said. “In the next few years that’s going to be a big thing.
“You got to be able to attract guys, free agents,” Allen added. “You got to draft well and we’ve got a lot of good promise here, but you’re always looking to add to your organization.
As you get older and reach free agency, you talk to guys throughout the league and try to figure things out. I think he’s a big bonus.”
“Listen, I think it’s going to be another two, three years … but again, we’re hopeful we have opportunities to trade for good, young players like a Kirby Dach, instead of using a draft pick for it,” Hughes said.
“We’ll try to do that, and that’s kind of a way to expedite the timeline. But we won’t go sign a 28-year-old or 29-year-old to a long-term deal at this point in time to be that much better next season.
It will be interesting to see what St. Louis can do over the next couple of seasons if Hughes can provide him with a more talented lineup that can also stay healthy.
Defenceman Chris Wideman said he’s already getting asked by players he knows around the league what St. Louis is like as a coach.
“I think as you see this group progress you’ll see guys, especially in free agency, reach out to players here and be like: ‘Is this the real deal? What’s it actually like?’” Wideman said. “I think there was a little bit of that at the trade deadline.
But I think as this gets going here, Marty will be part of the reason why guys want to come play here.”
Dach had struggled with the Blackhawks since being selected third overall at the 2019 NHL draft, posting 9-17-26 totals in 70 games last season. Despite missing 16 games this season because of a lower-body injury, Dach has already set career highs in goals and points with 13-23-36 totals.
Hughes acquired another former first-round pick, Denis Gurianov, from the Dallas Stars last month after he had posted 2-7-9 totals in 43 games this season. Gurianov, selected 12th overall at the 2015 draft, has 5-2-7 totals in 12 games with the Canadiens.
He coaches our team the way that he would want his coach to coach,” Wideman said about St. Louis, who had a 16-year Hall of Fame playing career. “He leaves a lot of stuff up to the players, but there are definitely things that he cares about more than other coaches.”
One of those things is play without the puck.
“Lots of coaches are saying: ‘Do this with the puck,’” defenceman Joel Edmundson said. “For him it’s more concepts away from the puck. It really expands your mind.”