Montreal Canadiens: Grading Martin St. Louis a Year Later

The Players Needed a Coaching Change

You can’t talk about the job St. Louis has done and not discuss his impact on Cole Caufield. Other players have also benefited from St. Louis taking over behind the bench, but nobody stands out more than Caufield. In 30 games during the 2021-22 season with Ducharme behind the bench, Caufield scored just one goal. In the 83 games since, Caufield has 48 goals, a pace that would be the most by any Montreal Canadien since Stephane Richer scored 51 in the 1989-90 season.

Now it seems unlikely that a player as talented as Caufield would remain at one goal forever, even under Ducharme, but it also seems hard to deny St. Louis’ impact. No matter how you choose to look at it, Caufield has become the player that Habs fans hoped he could be, and it coincided with the hiring of St. Louis, starting from day one, quite literally. And Caufield isn’t the only player that has shown growth under St. Louis.

Before coming to Montreal, Kirby Dach struggled to live up to the hype of being a third-overall pick in Chicago. The potential was there, but he just couldn’t seem to take that next step for whatever reason. Now, four months into his tenure with the Habs, Dach looks like the player he was drafted to be. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what has changed for Dach, and Caufield for that matter. It may simply be a newfound confidence that St. Louis provided for them. Sometimes knowing you have a coach who’s willing to let you be aggressive and try things instead of stapling you to the bench after a mistake can go a long way. Whatever it is, the switch was clearly flipped, and the hope is that St. Louis can continue to do this for other players, most notably Juraj Slafkovsky.