ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Blues have hired Greg Cronin and Václav “Vinny” Prospal as assistant coaches on Jim Montgomery’s staff for the 2026-27 season.Cronin will oversee the team’s defensemen and penalty-kill unit, while Prospal will work with the forwards and the power play.Cronin, 63, is coming to St. Louis after one season as the head coach of AHL Iowa, the Minnesota Wild’s affiliate. His most recent NHL job was as head coach of the Anaheim Ducks before he was fired in 2025 and replaced by Joel Quenneville. He was also a longtime assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Islanders.In Cronin’s two seasons behind Anaheim’s bench, the rebuilding Ducks had the fourth-highest goals-against average in the league (3.38 per game) and the second-lowest penalty kill (73.2 percent).Prospal, 51, joins the Blues after three seasons as an assistant coach with AHL Rochester, the Buffalo Sabres’ affiliate. Prospal played 16 seasons in the NHL, primarily with the Tampa Bay Lightning, but also spent time with the Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Rangers, Florida Panthers and Ducks.In 1,108 NHL games, Prospal had 255 goals and 765 points, including 79 power-play goals and 246 power-play points.Cronin and Prospal are the newest members of the staff under Montgomery, who signed a five-year contract in 2024.In each of his three stops as an NHL head coach — Dallas, Boston, St. Louis — Montgomery inherited his staff from the previous coach. This marks the first time he’s been able to pick who will be added to his staff.He took over the Blues in November 2024 when the Blues fired Drew Bannister. Steve Ott, Claude Julien, Mike Weber and David Alexander were holdovers on Bannister’s staff and were retained when Bannister was let go.In January, Ott was assigned to be head coach of the Blues’ AHL affiliate, Springfield. He recently signed a two-year contract extension with the organization.In April, the contracts of Julien and Weber were not renewed.Julien, 65, joined the Blues as an assistant coach in 2024. He was a veteran coach with 20 years of experience, including as head coach of the Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils and Boston Bruins, winning the Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 2011. He touched all aspects of the Blues’ staff.