St. Louis Blues’ Jim Montgomery Ranked As 16th Best NHL Coach

TheHockeyNews.com is running a series ranking each NHL coach, going in reverse order from No. 32 to No. 1.

The criteria for these rankings include each coach’s accomplishments, short- and long-term history, expectations, and general reputation. Of course, these rankings are subjective.

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St. Louis Blues coach Jim Montgomery found his name at No. 16 on these rankings, ahead of the likes of Todd McLellan, Sheldon Keefe and Marco Sturm. He also finds himself trailing coaches like Dan Muse, Peter Laviolette, and Rick Bowness.

Montgomery’s time in St. Louis has been very up and down. When he took over, he helped propel the Blues to the playoffs and pushed the Presidents’ Trophy winners to the Game 7 overtime.

But in 2025-26, with expectations higher, Montgomery was unable to help the Blues avoid another slow start to the season, and they fell short of the playoffs.

Now, Montgomery has added his assistant coaches, and with over a year and a half under the helm in St. Louis, the pressure for the 57-year-old to deliver is increasing.

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With the Boston Bruins, Montgomery guided the Original Six franchise to the most wins in a single season, taking home the Jack Adams Award, although he wasn’t able to bring them past the second round.

NHL Coach Rankings: 20 To 16 Features Several Coaches On The Hot Seat The NHL’s coaching business is a cutthroat line of work. But this summer, we’re ranking all 32 NHL coaches. Today, we’re looking at the middle of the pack, with rankings 20-through-16. Where does your team’s coach rank?

“When Montgomery became available to teams in November of 2024, the Blues took exactly five days before they fired Drew Bannister and replaced him with Montgomery,” started THN.com’s Adam Proteau. “And who could blame them – Montgomery had led the Bruins to a stunning 65-12-5 record in 2022-23 while winning a Jack Adams Award in the process.

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“Montgomery hasn’t had the success in St. Louis that he had in Boston. But that’s a product of the changing core of the Blues as they transition to a new era under new GM Alex Steen.

“That said, there is all kinds of pressure for Montgomery to improve St. Louis’ 2025-26 record of 37-33-12, and Montgomery must be a teacher for the Blues’ youngsters while trying to push the team up the standings of the highly competitive Central Division. With so much at stake, Montgomery is at a point where he could rise steeply or fall steeply in the coach rankings depending on what St. Louis does next season.”

Montgomery’s third season with the Blues will be an important one. If the Blues falter out of the gate and are on a crash course to miss the playoffs, changes could be made, but the Blues have full faith in their bench boss.

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