MONTREAL - Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin announced on Monday the appointment of Luke Richardson as an assistant coach with the Club.

"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," indicated Marc Bergevin.

"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," indicated Canadiens head coach, Claude Julien.

Luke Richardson, 49, has 25 years of NHL experience, including four as an assistant coach. He worked over 300 games as an assistant coach in the NHL, and 304 games as a head coach in the AHL.

During the 2017-18 season, Richardson was an assistant coach with the New York Islanders. He worked with Hockey Canada in 2016-17, winning the Spengler Cup as Team Canada's head coach, and helped them reach the finals at the Deutschland Cup as an assistant coach.

The Ottawa native was the head coach of the Binghamton Senators, Ottawa's AHL affiliate, where he posted a record of 153-120-31 in 304 regular season games from 2012-13 to 2015-16. Richardson made his NHL coaching debut with the Senators during the 2008-09 season, working as an assistant coach in the nation's capital until the end of the 2011-12 season.

Selected in the first round, seventh overall by Toronto in 1987, Richardson spent 21 seasons in the NHL. The defenseman played in 1,417 regular season games with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Tampa Bay Lightning and the Ottawa Senators. He registered 201 points (35 goals, 166 assists) and served 2,055 penalty minutes. He added eight assists in 69 playoff contests.

On the international stage, Richardson was a member of the Canadian National Team at the 1987 World Junior Championship, as well as the IIHF World Championship in 1994 (gold medal) and 1996 (silver medal).

Richardson officially announced his retirement as a player on November 2, 2008.