The Montreal Canadiens signed head coach Martin St. Louis to a contract extension Monday, hours before opening training camp, capping a four-day stretch in which the club also locked up a young forward, added a veteran winger and named a new alternate captain.
The team called the deal a multi-year extension, TSN reported. NHL.com reported it runs through the 2029-30 season, replacing the final year of St. Louis’s previous contract and beginning immediately. St. Louis, 51, is entering his fifth full season behind the Montreal bench.
“Marty has done a terrific job leading our young team,” general manager Kent Hughes said in a statement carried by TSN, calling him a strong communicator and teacher.
St. Louis joined the Canadiens as interim head coach in February 2022 and was given the job permanently four months later. Montreal finished sixth in the NHL with 106 points last season and reached the Eastern Conference final for the first time since its run to the Stanley Cup final in 2021. St. Louis was a finalist for the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year.
The extension followed the team’s announcement that forward Josh Anderson will serve as an alternate captain this season alongside defenceman Mike Matheson, behind captain Nick Suzuki.
Montreal also added a familiar face for its coach. The Canadiens agreed to terms Saturday with forward Chris Kreider on a one-year contract for 2026-27 worth $2.15 million guaranteed, with up to $3.25 million more available in bonuses, the team announced. Kreider, 35, became an unrestricted free agent after Anaheim moved to end the contract he signed with the Ducks, and he was a teammate of St. Louis with the New York Rangers.
Kreider played 75 games for Anaheim in 2025-26 and put up 50 points on 22 goals and 28 assists.
The Canadiens’ other piece of weekend business was a four-year extension for forward Zachary Bolduc, reported by TSN at an average annual value of $4.2 million. Defenceman Arber Xhekaj is Montreal’s lone unsigned player heading into camp.
Montreal opens its pre-season Saturday with split-squad games against the Toronto Maple Leafs and starts the regular season against Toronto on Sept. 29, the same night the Edmonton Oilers open at home against Vancouver.
Elsewhere around the league, Carolina heads into camp with defenceman Alexander Nikishin still unsigned as a restricted free agent, and San Jose prospect forward Cam Lund’s availability for camp is in question after an upper-body injury at a rookie tournament over the weekend, according to reports compiled by Spector’s Hockey. Neither team had confirmed its situation publicly as of Monday.
Sources: TSN, NHL.com, Montreal Canadiens team releases, Spector’s Hockey.
Photo: Chris Kreider with the New York Rangers in October 2014, more than a decade before he signed with Montreal. Credit: Lisa Gansky, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
