Montreal Canadiens Extend Director of Amateur Scouting Martin Lapointe

Montreal Canadiens players are gearing up to face the Calgary Flames, but general manager Marc Bergevin and owner Geoff Molson remain busy behind the scenes.

Minutes before the Habs first home game of the season, the Canadiens announced that they extended the contract of Martin Lapointe.

Lapointe has served as the director of player personnel for the organization for the past three seasons. He will continue in that role for the next three seasons as well as taking on the role of director of amateur scouting.

Lapointe had a lengthy NHL career on the ice, scoring 181 goals and 381 points in 991 games with the Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks and Ottawa Senators. He helped the Red Wings win consecutive Stanley Cups in 1997 and 1998, scoring 13 goals and 27 points in 41 games during those two runs combined.

Lapointe worked as a scout for the Blackhawks, beginning in 2009. This is where he began working with Bergevin and he must have made a solid impression. When Bergevin was hired as general manager of the Canadiens, he quickly hired Lapointe to be the director of player development of the Habs and has ensured Lapointe stay in Montreal ever since.

Lapointe’s new role as director of amateur scouting was previously filled by Shane Churla. Churla left during the offseason to join the Florida Panthers organization. Instead of hiring someone new to fill that vacancy, Lapointe will be wearing two hats for the Habs for the next three years.

It will be interesting to hear more about how the Habs plan to do their amateur scouting this season, considering most of the Canadian Hockey League is not playing games. The Western Hockey League and Ontario Hockey League are yet to play games and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League has tried to run its season but continues hitting road blocks.

The contract extension kicks in on July 1, 2021 and will run to the end of the 2023-24 season.