The Montreal Canadiens have a new coach: Here's what you need to know

The Canadiens are bringing Derek Lalonde onto Martin St-Louis' coaching staff, according to a report Wednesday night.

Lalonde slots in as an assistant behind the Montreal bench. He's not walking in short on hardware.

He spent 2018 through 2022 as an assistant in Tampa, winning two Stanley Cups during that stretch. That's the kind of resume Kent Hughes wants near his young core.

From there, Lalonde ran the show in Detroit as head coach from 2022 to 2024. Last season, he worked as an assistant in Toronto.

Now he's headed to Montreal for 2026. Three different organizations, three different roles, all in under a decade.

He's replacing Trevor Letowski, who is stepping off the bench to spend more time with his family. Letowski isn't leaving the organization entirely, though.

The Canadiens reportedly want to keep him in some capacity, just not behind the bench night to night. That's a small mercy in a business that usually just says thanks and shows people the door.

Habs want to keep Letowski in the fold despite bench change

St-Louis enters his fifth season behind the Montreal bench, hired back in February 2022. The Canadiens are coming off a season that saw them post a 48-24-10 record and 106 points.

They've gone 7-3-0 over their last 10 games, a stretch that shows real progress from where this group started under St-Louis. Lalonde walks into a staff overseeing a team on the rise, not one searching for direction.

Adding a coach with two championship rings changes the tone in that room. Whether Lalonde's fingerprints show up on the power play, the penalty kill, or player development remains to be seen.

Hughes has been aggressive about upgrading every layer of this operation, not just the roster. This hire fits that pattern.

What role Lalonde actually takes on, and how much say he gets over special teams or the blue line rotation, hasn't been detailed yet. That's the next thing worth watching out of Montreal.