St. Louis Blues fire Drew Bannister; hire Jim Montgomery as Head Coach

 

The St. Louis Blues have fired head coach Drew Bannister. Bannister, 50, was 9-12-1 with 19 points in 22 games to start the 2024-2025 season. Bannister took over last season as head coach, after Craig Berube was fired on December 12, 2023. At the time of Berube's firing, the Blues were 13-14-1 with 27 points in 28 games. Then, Bannister in 54 games was 30-19-5 with 65 points. 

Overall, Bannister coached the Blues for 2 seasons. Bannister coached 76 games and was 39-31-6 with 84 points and a winning percentage of .553. 

To replace Bannister, the Blues have hired Jim Montgomery as their new head coach. Montgomery, 55, becomes the Blues 28th head coach in franchise history. Montgomery will get a five-year contract. Montgomery was recently fired by the Boston Bruins on November 19, 2024. Montgomery was in his 3rd season as the Bruins head coach.

Montgomery had his best season in 2022-2023. That season, Montgomery led the Bruins to a record of 65-12-5 with 135 points. The wins and points were both career highs for Montgomery in his NHL head coaching career. The wins and points also set an NHL record in a single season. Montgomery ended up winning the Jack Adams Award for his success in 2022-2023.

Before joining the Bruins, Montgomery was head coach of the Dallas Stars for 2 seasons (2018-2020). After being fired by the Dallas Stars, Montgomery was an assistant coach for the Blues for 2 seasons (2020-2022) under Berube.  

Overall, Montgomery is currently in his 5th season as an NHL lead cooch. Montgomery has coached 298 games and has a record of 180-64-33 with a .659 winning percentage. In the playoffs, Montgomery is 16-17 with a .485 winning percentage. 

This will be Montgomery's 3rd tenure with the Blues. As a player, Montgomery played for the Blues for 1 season (1993-1994). 

Motgomery should be able to do well with the Blues. He has a strong bond with Robert Thomas, Pavel Buchnevich, and Jordan Kyrou. Montgomery also does good job working with young players. 

The Blues have been wanting Montgomery for a while. If Montgomery had been available before the Blues decided to make Bannister the full-time head coach, he would have been hired instead. 

Motgomery's 1st game as Blues head coach will be on Monday night in New York against the Rangers. 

St. Louis Blues extend Alexey Toropchenko

 

The St. Louis Blues have re-signed right wing Alexey Toropchenko to a one-year contract extension, worth $1.7 million. Toropchenko, 25, currently has played 7 games with 1 assist, and 1 point in 2024-2025. 

Toropchenko had his best season in 2023-2024. That season, Toropchenko played 82 games with 14 goals, 7 assists, 21 points, and a -3. The games, goals, and points were all career highs for Torpchenko. 

In 2022-2023, Toropchenko had a career high (9) assists. 

Overall, Toropchenko is currently in his 4th NHL season. Toropchenko has played 186 games with 26 goals, 17 assists, 43 points, and a -6. In the playoffs, Toropchenko has played 12 games with 2 assists, 2 points, and a plus 2. 

St. Louis Blues extend Jake Neighbours

 

The St. Louis Blues have re-signed left wing Jake Neighbours to a two-year contract extension, worth $7.5 million. Neighbours, 22, currently has played 6 games with 2 goals, 1 assist, 3 points, and a -2 in 2024-2025. 

Neighbours had his best season in 2023-2024. That season, Neighbours played 77 games with 27 goals, 11 assists, 38 points, and a -16. The games, goals, assists, and points were all career highs for Neighbours. 

Overall, Neighbours is currently in his 4th NHL season. Neighbours has played 135 games with 36 goals, 17 assists, 53 points, and a -39. 

The Blues did a good job to re-signed Neighbours now. If the Blues hadn't signed Neighbours to a new contract a team could have given him an offer sheet next summer to try to steal him. 

St. Louis Cardinals hire Brant Brown as hitting coach

 

The St. Louis Cardinals have hired former outfielder Brant Brown as their new hitting coach. Brown, 53, played five seasons in the MLB (1996-2000). Brown spent most of his career four seasons (1996-1998, 2000) with the Chicago Cubs. Brown also played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Florida Marlins (now Miami Marlins). 

After retired from the MLB, Brown went into coaching. Brown was a hitting coach for in the Texas Rangers minor leagues for six seasons (2007-2012). After, leaving the Rangers, Brown was the Seattle Mariners outfield coordinator for four seasons (2013-2016). Brown was then the Mariners minor league offensive coordinator for one season (2017), and minor league hitting strategist for two seasons (2018-2019). 

Brown ended up being hired by the Los Angeles Dodgers as their assistant hitting coach for five seasons (2018-2022). In 2020, Brown helped the Dodgers win the World Series.

Brown became the Marlins hitting coach in 2023. The Marlins offense was successful under Brown. That season, the Marlins hit .259 as a team. The .259 team batting average was tied for fourth with the Houston Astros overall in the MLB. 

The Mariners then decided to hire Brown as their offensive coordinator and bench coach. The offensive coordinator was a new position. The Mariners offense ended up doing badly, and Brown was fired on May 31, 2024.  

How much of the Mariners offense doing badly was because the Mariners had let one of their best hitters in Teocar Hermandez go in free agency? The Mariners didn't like that Hernandez struck out a lot. How much of it was because Brown was doing two different jobs instead of one? Would either of those made a difference for the Mariners offense? 

Brown has the potential to be a good hire for the Cardinals. Brown has been successful in his coaching career. 

Brown is also reunited with new Cardinals assistant coach Jon Jay. Both Brown and Jay were on the Marlins coaching staff in 2023. 

St. Louis Cardinals add Jon Jay to coaching staff

 

The St. Louis Cardinals have hired former outfielder Jon Jay to the coaching staff. Jay, 39, replaces Willie McGee as an assistant coach. Jay played for the Cardinals for six seasons (20010-2015). In 2011, Jay helped the Cardinals win the World Series. The past two seasons (2023-2024), Jay was the first bases coach for the Miami Marlins. 

Jay is reunited with former Cardinals teammate, bench coach Daniel Descalso. Both Jay and Descalso are close friends, too. 

McGee, 65, was part of the Cardinals coaching staff for seven seasons (2018-2024). McGee will now join the Cardinals front office and be in an advisory role. McGee will help with both the major and minor leagues. That also includes spring training. 

Jay won't be the only new coach on the coaching staff. The Cardinals are looking for a new hitting coach. 

St. Louis Blues Sign Philip Broberg, and Dylan Holloway

 

The St. Louis Blues have signed defenseman Philip Broberg and center Dylan Hollway to two-year contracts. Broberg's contract is worth $9.16 million, and Holloway's contract is worth $4.58 million. The Blues gave both Broberg and Hollway offer sheets on August 13, 2024. The Edmonton Oilers then had a week to match both offers if they wanted to keep them. Because the Oilers didn't match the offer sheets as required compensation for restricted free agents, they'll get a 2025 2nd-round pick and a 2025 3rd-round pick from the Blues. 

Broberg, 23, played 12 games with 2 assists, 2 points, and a -3 in 2023-2024.

Broberg had his best season in 2022-2023. That season, Broberg played 46 games with 1 goal, 7 assists, 8 points, and a plus 6. The games, assists, points, and plus mark were all career highs for Broberg. The goal tied a career high from 2021-2022 for Broberg. 

Overall, Broberg has played 3 seasons in the NHL. Broberg has played 81 games with 2 goals, 11 assists, 13 points, and a -5. 

Holloway, 22, played 38 games with 6 goals, 3 assists, 9 points, and a -1 in 2023-2024. The goals were a career high for Holloway. 

Holloway had his best season in 2022-2023. That season, Holloway played 51 games with 3 goals, 6 assists, and 9 points. The games, assists, and points were all career highs for Holloway. 

Overall, Holloway has played 2 seasons in the NHL. Holloway has played 89 games with 9 goals, 9 assists, 18 points, and a -1. In the playoffs, Holloway has played 26 games with 5 goals, 2 assists, 7 points, and a plus 5. 

Both Broberg and Holloway are interesting additions for the Blues roster in 2024-2025. Broberg was a 1st-round pick in 2018 (8th overcall). Broberg has drawn comparisons to former Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester. Holloway was a 1st-round pick in 2020 (14th overall). Broberg and Holloway can also skate well.

Will Broberg and Holloway stay improving their game? If they do, both could end up being good additions for the Blues future. I wish more NHL teams would take the risk of trying to sign restricted free agents to offer sheets. It's something you don't see much, and teams could improve by if successful. 

St. Louis Cardinals Acquire Shawn Armstrong

 

The St. Louis Cardinals have acquired RHP Shawn Armstrong from the Tampa Bay Rays for outfielder Dylan Carlson, and cash considerations. Armstrong, 33, is currently 2-2 with a 5.40 ERA, 38 games, 7 starts, 3 holds, 1 save, 46.2 innings, 50 strikeouts, and 19 walks in 2024. Armstrong can be a free agent after the season.

In 2023, Armstong was 1-0 with a 1.38 ERA, 39 games, 6 starts, 6 holds, 52 innings, 54 strikeouts, and 11 walks. The ERA was a career best from Armstrong. 

Armstrong had career highs in games (55), holds (9), and saves (4) combined between the Seattle Mariners and Baltimore Orioles in 2019. In 2020, Armstrong had a career high 2 wins. Armstrong had career highs in both innings (61.2) and strikeouts (66) combined between the Miami Marlins and Rays. 

Overall, Armstrong is currently in his 10th MLB season. Armstrong is 10-7 with a 4.18 ERA, 280 games, 16 starts, 27 holds, 327.1 innings, 344 strikeouts, 114 walks, and a whip of 1.32. 

Carlson, 25, is currently hitting .198 with 12 runs, 24 hits, 5 doubles, 11 RBI's, and 12 walks in 2024. 

Carlson had his best season in 2021. That season, Carlson hit .266 with 79 runs, 144 hits, 31 doubles, 4 triples, 18 home runs, 65 RBI's, 2 stolen bases, and 57 walks. The batting averages, runs, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, RBI's, and walks were all career highs for Carlson.

In 2022, Carlson had a career high 5 stolen bases. 

Overall, Carlson is currently in his 5th MLB season. Carlson has played 447 games with 185 runs, 340 hits, 81 doubles, 10 triples, 34 home runs, 161 RBI's, 11 stolen bases, 148 walks, and a .239 batting average. 

Both Armstrong and Carlson needed a change of scenery. Armstrong was good in 2023, so the Cardinals hope they get that version of him. Armstrong is reunited with former Rays teammate reliever Andrew Kittredge. 

Carlson is reunited with former Cardinals teammate outfielder/second baseman Richie Palacios.