St. Louis Blues President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Doug Armstrong announced multiple additions and extensions to the coaching staff.
Old Faces And New Faces
Steve Ott, who has served as an assistant coach the past seven years, has been promoted to to associate coach. Furthermore, Ott has received a contract extension through the 2025-26 season.
Ott is not the only coach to receive an extension. Assistant Coach Mike Weber and Goaltending Coach David Alexander have been extended through the 2025-26 season.
The Blues are also adding a new face to the coaching staff. Claude Julien has been named as an assistant coach for the upcoming season.
Julien Brings Additional Experience To The Coaching Staff
The Blues do not lack experience from their coaching staff. Ott, Weber, and Alexander have roughly 19 years of combined coaching experience in professional hockey. Furthermore, Ott and Alexander each played crucial roles in the Blues 2019 Stanley Cup Championship.
Julien brings even more experience to the coaching staff. Julien himself has 20 years of coaching experience, 19 of which has a head coach. In addition to stints as the head coach of the Montreal Canadiens and New Jersey Devils, Julien spent ten seasons as the head coach of the Boston Bruins. During his time with the Bruins, Julien won the 2009 Jack Adams Award as the NHL ‘s best head coach. Julien also lead the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Championship in 2011.
The Coaching Staff Announcements Follow Planned Front Office Shakeup
The Blues have had a busy off-season when it comes to organizational planning. First, the Blues re-signed Drew Bannister to the head coach and removed his interim tag. Next, the Blues announced that in two seasons, Doug Armstrong will step down as general manager and Alexander Steen will take over the role.
What Do These Announcements Say About The Blues Plan?
As was the case with the general manager announcement, the news today give hints to the Blues plans for the future.
The extensions of Ott, Weber, and Alexander expire at the end of the 2025-26 season. This the final season before Steen takes the reigns of general manager. It is also the final season on Bannister’s contract. It is clear the Blues are setting up things up to where Steen will have the ability to choose his own coaching staff if he feels a change is needed.
Julien’s role in this is interesting. The length of Julien’s contract is not known at this time. It can be assumed that it goes no longer than the 2025-26 season. One has to wonder if Armstrong is bringing in Julien not just to help the team now, but also to possibly give Steen an in-house coaching option should he feel Bannister is not the answer.
This would not be the first time the Blues have done this. Going into the 2016-17 season, the Blues hired Mike Yeo as assistant coach with the intent of him replacing Ken Hitchock at the end of the season. Yeo would end up taking over for Hitchock before the end of the season.
This idea may seem a little far-fetched, but it is something the Blues have done before.
The Short Term
While the Blues may have their plans for the future, they will still look to improve for this season and beyond. With the 2024 NHL Entry Draft this weekend and free agency opening next week, it will be interesting to see what the Blues will do to improve the team. Anything, from trades to low risk signings, should be on the table for the Blues.
Main Photo: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports
