The Montreal Canadiens announced on Wednesday that the team has agreed to terms on a three-year contract extension with assistant coach Luke Richardson.

In his third season with the Canadiens as assistant to the head coach, he was called upon to replace Dominique Ducharme during the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs when Ducharme left the team temporarily for health reasons. He took over the squad shortly before Game 3 of the Semifinals and helped the Canadiens defeat the Vegas Golden Knights in six games to advance to their first Stanley Cup Final since 1993. 

Richardson, 52, joined the Canadiens' coaching staff as assistant coach in 2018, after four seasons as an assistant coach with the Ottawa Senators and New York Islanders.

Richardson was also head coach of the Ottawa Senators' AHL affiliate in Binghamton, where he posted a record of 153-120-31 in 304 regular season games from 2012 to 2016. He made his NHL coaching debut with the Senators during the 2008-09 season as an assistant coach. He also led Canada to the Spengler Cup in 2016-17.