Montreal Canadiens Add Alex Burrows and Lauri Korpikoski to Player Development Staff

The Montreal Canadiens announced Tuesday that they have made two additions to their player development department. Former Habs assistant coach Alexandre Burrows will work as a consultant, while Lauri Korpikoski will work as a player development coach in Europe.

Burrows announced a day prior that he was stepping down as assistant head coach with the Canadiens after joining the bench in 2021. The decision was made by Burrows so that he could spend more time with his family.

“With a young family and being away from birthdays or just Halloween when you have young kids, you mature as a dad and you miss those times,“ Burrows told the media Tuesday. “It was a tough decision. I think it’s a good common ground for me to balance family life right now.”

Burrows played 913 games in the NHL with both Vancouver and Ottawa between 2005 and 2018. He scored 205 goals and 409 points during his career. Burrows initially joined the Canadiens’ AHL affiliate Laval Rocket as an assistant coach in 2018 before transitioning to the NHL.

Korpikoski is a Finnish-born former NHL player who will seek to help develop the slew of young European prospects being assimilated into the Habs development system. He came to the Canadiens through old ties with Canadiens Executive Vice President Jeff Gorton from back when the two were a part of the New York Rangers organization.

Korpikoski detailed his role with the development staff for the media:

“I will be based in Europe. I will help out all the draft picks from Europe… [I’ll be] watching their games, go visit them, talk to their coaches and agents. Everything involved with player development and just trying to make them as ready as they can be once they get to [North America].”

Korpikoski played in 609 games in the NHL between 2008 and 2017, amassing 86 goals and 201 points during that span.