Blues shake up coaching staff as two assistants not renewed

A couple of veteran personnel will not be back behind the St. Louis Blues‘ bench next year.

On Friday, Blues general manager Doug Armstrong announced that the contracts of assistant coaches Mike Weber and Claude Julien will not be renewed for the 2026-27 season.

In a statement, Armstrong thanked the two men for their work with the organization, but noted that it was time for a change.

“I would like to thank Claude and Mike for their contributions during their time with the organization,” Armstrong said. “With their contracts set to expire this summer, we wanted to give them the opportunity to move on to the next chapter of their coaching careers while we work to building a coaching staff that is best suited to lead our team moving forward.”

The duo served under head coach Jim Montgomery in his first full season at the helm. While they worked together to help the Blues reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs last year, nearly eliminating the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets, the team didn’t have the same fortune in 2025-26, finishing fifth in the Central Division, missing the last Wild Card spot in the Western Conference by four points.

Julien was hired in June 2024, when Drew Bannister was in charge.  The Blind River, Ontario native began coaching in the pro ranks in 2000 with the American Hockey League’s Hamilton Bulldogs and was promoted to head coach of the Montreal Canadiens during the 2002-03 season. He spent the next 18 seasons in the NHL, making stops with the New Jersey Devils and Boston Bruins before returning to the Habs in the 2016-17 campaign. He last coached during the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, where he was let go in the middle of the season.

Weber was added to the staff the summer before, while Craig Berube was the head coach. The longtime NHL defenseman was in his first NHL coaching job after spending three seasons as an assistant with the AHL’s Rochester Americans.