Canadiens Bring Kirk Muller Back to Coaching Staff

The former Canadiens Captain recently announced he would not return to St. Louis and his former team was quick to bring him back.

Kirk Muller is a bit of a cult hero and legend among Canadiens fans. Nicknamed “Captain Kirk” because of his leadership and determination, Muller endeared himself to those who saw him at the Montreal Forum. It also helped that he captained the team’s last Stanley Cup team in 1993.

Muller furthered his legend in Montreal with a very successful 5 year tenure as an assistant coach. Muller was well known for his constant communication with players and constantly relaying tips and strategies. He was also instrumental in running the Canadiens very successful power play unit.

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After his tenure in Montreal, Muller had a small stint as the Milwaukee Admirals head coach before spending just under 3 years in Carolina. After he was let go, he has since spent two years in St. Louis, working under long time friends Ken Hitchcock and Doug Armstrong.

After a 3rd round loss to the San Jose Sharks, their were many questions regarding the Blues coaching staff. Most of these questions surrounded Ken Hitchcock but the fate of the assistants also hung in the balance.

Elliotte Friedman reported yesterday that Muller had informed the Blues of his decision to leave his post.

Muller joined fellow Blues assistant Brad Shaw in leaving the Blues. Both coaches were offered similar one year deals as head coach Ken Hitchcock but both have seemingly balked at the idea of being on such a short leash.

You can’t really blame either Muller or Shaw as both are well established assistant coaches with strong resumes and track records.

Muller ran the Blues power play, a position he ran while also in Montreal. Over his 2 years in St. Louis, the Blues power play ranked 4th and 6th in the NHL. In his previous tenure in Montreal, the team consistently had a 20%+ unit and only once had a success rate under 20%.

***UPDATE***

As I was writing this article, outlining why the Canadiens must bring Muller back to it’s coaching staff, Renaud Lavoie announced the following:

This very well could mark the best acquisition the Canadiens could have made this off-season. Muller will presumably take over the power play unit again, an area that was run by the recently fired Craig Ramsay.

Since Muller’s departure in 2011, the Canadiens have struggled mightily with their power play. Over the past 5 seasons, the unit has posted a dreadful 16.5% success rate, good for 26th in the NHL. In that same time span, it has ranked 21st or lower 4 times and they have had just 1 season of a 20%+ success rate. In the most recent season, the Canadiens power play ranked 25th in the NHL at 16.2%.

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To help get the unit going, Muller has a lot of potential weapons at his disposal.

At the points, he has established stars P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov who should occupy the top unit. For the 2nd unit, Nathan Beaulieu has some untapped offensive potential and Mark Barberio has a long track record of success at the AHL level.

Among forwards, Muller has Max Pacioretty, Alex Galchenyuk, Brendan Gallagher and Tomas Plekanec. Their is also the possibility that youngsters Artturi Lehkonen, Daniel Carr and Martin Reway could see time on the power play if they make the team.