NHL Rumors: Canadiens Expected To Extend St. Louis In the Near Future

Darren Dreger, NHL insider, tweeted that the Montreal Canadiens aren't saying much but we can expect an extension soon for head coach Martin St. Louis.

The Canadiens first brought on St. Louis to coach before Game 46 of the season and after the team had lost seven in a row and 20 of 22. Their record to that point was 8-30-7 then the organization finally pulled the trigger on making a coaching change.

St. Louis came in hot, and after a few games to settle in and get some team practices under his belt, the team turned their season around and gave hope to Canadiens' fans. The team lost the first three games under their new coach, but then won five in a row and seven of eight games following that.

He transformed future star Cole Caufield from a player that wasn't able to contribute offensively and was sent to Laval of the American Hockey League to a player that was one of the top scorers in the NHL over the second half. Caufield had scored one goal and had eight points in his first 30 games of the season under former head coach Dominique Ducharme. But he proceeded to finish the season with 22 goals and 35 points in 37 games from the time of St. Louis' hire until the end of the season.

St. Louis was a small and very effective player in the NHL, and he has coached Caufield to play the style of game he did. He was also great with the entire team as a whole and finished his first half season with a 14-19-4 record with a team that mostly consisted of young and inexperienced players.

This is great news for the Canadiens and the future of their young players as the ideal situation would be to lock St. Louis up long-term.