(Montreal) The Montreal Canadiens may have been very quiet on the free agent market so far, but that doesn’t mean they’re idle.
The Montreal organization announced Tuesday that it has hired Lauri Korpikoski as coach responsible for player development. The latter will be based in Europe, said the Canadiens’ executive vice-president of hockey operations, Jeff Gorton, in a press release.
Gorton also said Alexandre Burrows, who was part of Martin St. Louis’ coaching staff last season, will now serve as a player development advisor.
Korpikoski played 609 games over nine NHL seasons with the New York Rangers, Phoenix (and later Arizona) Coyotes, Edmonton Oilers, Dallas Stars and Columbus Blue Jackets. In total, the Finn scored 86 goals and had 115 assists in his career in the Bettman League.
Korpikoski, now 37, was selected in the first round, 19e overall, by the Rangers in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. The former forward won the bronze medal at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, in addition to capturing the Swiss National League title with the Zurich Lions in 2017-18.
For his part, Burrows, who had been an assistant coach with the Canadiens since February 24, 2021, also served as an assistant coach with the Laval Rocket in the American League from 2018 to 2021. The former forward played 913 NHL games before retiring in 2018. The Quebecer scored 409 points (205-204) with the Vancouver Canucks and Ottawa Senators in the NHL.