The St. Louis Blues have come to a list of finalists for their vacant head coach position, and Drew Bannister is reportedly among the bunch, shares Chris Pinkert of NHL.com. Bannister is St. Louis’ most recent coach, getting promoted from the AHL following Craig Berube’s dismissal in December.
It was the first NHL gig of Bannister’s coaching career and he made good work with it, leading the Blues to a surging 30-19-5 record. He brought the best out of the team’s special teams – improving the power-play from 8.4% to 23.2%, and the penalty-kill from 78.5% to 79.4%. But the push wasn’t enough to get St. Louis over a sub-.500 start to the year, with the team ultimately falling six points outside of a playoff spot.
Bannister previously served as the head coach for the Springfield Thunderbirds, St. Louis’ AHL affiliate. He found plenty of success in the minors, leading the Thunderbirds to two playoff appearances and even making the 2022 Calder Cup Final. That track record, and his early NHL success, could be enough to land Bannister an assistant coaching job on the Blues bench, even if he does miss out on the head role.