Martin St-Louis might be next in line for a new deal, and the timing would make real sense given everything else that's already been locked up in Montreal.
Per Stu Cowan, both Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes signed five year contract extensions, cementing the front office structure that's overseen four straight seasons of improvement.
A four year extension for St-Louis before this season starts would be a logical next step, according to that same reporting.
NHL Rumour Report shared the story Thursday, noting that speculation about a St-Louis extension has actually been circulating for a while now.
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That timing tracks with everything Montreal has already put together this offseason. Locking in the front office leadership for five years while leaving the head coach's status unresolved would be an odd gap to leave open heading into a season with real expectations attached.
Why locking up St-Louis now makes sense
St-Louis has overseen real growth in Montreal, coaching the Canadiens to their best season in years, a 106 point campaign and a run to the third round of the playoffs behind a genuinely young core.
St-Louis doesn't get complete unanimous support from Canadiens fans either.
Most are genuinely proud of the job he's done as a coach and a unifier for this group, but some point to moments of inexperience showing through at key times, referencing a playoff series against Rod Brind'Amour's Carolina Hurricanes where adjustments reportedly came too slowly.
Still, the majority want him kept around to see exactly how far he can push this roster, especially given the work he's put in developing Montreal's young talents over these past few seasons.
That kind of results-based case usually accelerates these conversations rather than delaying them.
Rewarding continuity at the top of an organization tends to matter more once real success actually starts showing up on the ice.
Having Gorton and Hughes locked in long term while St-Louis operates year to year would also create a strange power dynamic, one where the front office has committed to a five year plan without matching that same commitment to the coach actually executing it.
A four year term would line up reasonably well with the timeline of Montreal's young core too, giving St-Louis real runway to keep developing players like Ivan Demidov, Lane Hutson, and the rest of this group as they enter their primes together.
Given how well aligned Montreal's front office and coaching staff have looked over the past few seasons, an extension for St-Louis feels less like speculation and more like a matter of when, not if.
Should the Canadiens extend Martin St-Louis for four more years?
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