MONTREAL – On Monday, the Montreal Canadiens announced the appointment of Luke Richardson as an assistant coach. The 49-year-old Richardson will join Claude Julien‘s staff with responsibility for the Canadiens defensemen replacing J.J. Daigneault.

“We’re very pleased with the hiring of Luke Richardson as an assistant coach. Luke has tremendous experience, both as a player in the NHL and as a coach. He also had the opportunity to work internationally with Hockey Canada, which gives him excellent credibility among young players. We’re very happy that he has joined the Canadiens organization,” said Habs general manager Marc Bergevin.

Richardson has four full seasons of experience as an NHL assistant coach with the Senators and the Islanders. He also spent four years as a head coach in the AHL guiding the Binghamton Senators to a 153-120-17-14 record.

“I’m delighted with the addition of Luke Richardson to our coaching staff. Luke is a very credible hockey person and a very knowledgeable coach. We undertook a process to select a coach with specific criteria in mind, and after taking the time to meet with several candidates, we’re very happy that Luke accepted to join our group. He has already been told that his role on our staff will be to work with our defensemen,” said head coach, Claude Julien.

As a player, Richardson spent 21 seasons in the NHL scoring 35 goals and 166 assists in 1417 games while accumulating 2055 penalty minutes and a minus-119 rating. Richardson suited up for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Tampa Bay Lightning and the Ottawa Senators.