Blues’ making coaching staff changes after missing playoffs

The St. Louis Blues announced on Friday that assistant coaches Claude Julien and Mike Weber will not have their contracts renewed.

“I would like to thank Claude and Mike for their contributions during their time with the organization,” Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said in a statement. “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 move comes after St. Louis finished the 2025-26 regular season with a 37-33-12 record, ending fifth in the Central Division. The Blues missed the Western Conference Wild Card spot by four points, despite closing the campaign with a 5-3 win over the Utah Mammoth and a four-game winning streak.

Julien, 65, joined the Blues in the summer of 2024 as an assistant coach. During his time with the club, St. Louis went 81-63-20 and reached the 2025 playoffs. Julien brought extensive NHL experience, including head coaching roles with the Montreal Canadiens (2002-06, 2016-21), New Jersey Devils (2006-07), and Boston Bruins (2008-17), winning the Stanley Cup in 2011.

Weber, 38, was added to the staff in the summer of 2023. Under his tenure, the Blues compiled a 124-96-26 record and also qualified for the 2025 postseason. Before joining St. Louis, Weber served as an assistant with the AHL’s Rochester Americans from 2020-23 and the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires from 2018-20. This was his first NHL coaching role after a playing career as a defenseman.

Both coaches worked under head coach Jim Montgomery, who replaced Drew Bannister in November 2024. The organization retained Julien and Weber through Montgomery’s first full season, but missing the playoffs this year precipitated a review of the staff structure, with Montgomery now expected to have the opportunity to build his own coaching team moving forward.

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