The 64-year-old hasn’t coached in the NHL since being fired by Habs on Feb. 24, 2021, replaced by Dominique Ducharme.
Claude Julien will be back behind an NHL bench next season.
The St. Louis Blues announced Thursday that they have hired the 64-year-old Julien as an assistant coach. Julien had been doing some work as a pro scout with the Blues.
Julien hasn’t coached in the NHL since being fired as head coach of the Canadiens on Feb. 24, 2021, replaced by Dominique Ducharme. The Canadiens had a 9-5-4 record at the time and would go on to finish the COVID-shortened regular season with a 24-21-11 record before making a surprising run to the Stanley Cup final and losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Julien had two stints as head coach of the Canadiens — from 2002-03 to 2005-06 and from 2016-17 to 2020-21 — posting an overall record of 201-175-60 during that span. Both times Julien was hired by the Canadiens to replace Michel Therrien. Julien was in the fourth season of a five-year, US$25-million contract when he was fired by the Canadiens for the second time by former GM Marc Bergevin.
Julien has also been head coach of the New Jersey Devils and Boston Bruins. He won the Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 2011 and has coached 1,274 regular-season games in the NHL, posting a 667-445-162 record for a .544 winning percentage.
Doug Armstrong, the Blues president of hockey operations and general manager, also announced Thursday that Steve Ott has been promoted to associate coach and his contract has been extended through the 2025-26 season. Ott played 14 seasons in the NHL and finished his career in 2016-17 with the Canadiens when Julien was head coach.
The Blues also extended the contracts of assistant coach Mike Weber and goaltending coach David Alexander through the 2025-26 season.
Armstrong fired head coach Craig Berube last December when the Blues had a 13-14-1 record and replaced him with Drew Bannister on an interim basis. The Blues posted a 30-19-5 record under Bannister, but failed to make the playoffs. Bannister was officially named head coach last month when he signed a two-year contract.
Berube, who guided the Blues to their only Stanley Cup championship in 2019, was hired last month as head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs.