The Montreal Canadiens are about to make a major goaltending announcement

Marco Marciano still doesn't have a locked-up job as the Montreal Canadiens' full-time goalie coach, and the wait is dragging into August.

That's the word from hockey insider Karine Hains on X this Thursday morning, and it's the kind of detail that tends to sit quietly until someone actually says it out loud.

While Marciano's future in Montreal remains open, the organization has already locked down its coaching staff for the Laval Rocket, the Canadiens' AHL affiliate.

Ilia Ejov, who joined the club last February as a goaltending coach, is confirmed back with the Rocket this season.

His role is shifting too. Ejov will now focus specifically on developing the organization's goaltending prospects at the AHL level.

David Urquhart is also joining the Laval bench, stepping in after five seasons as head coach of the McGill Redbirds.

He'll work alongside assistant coach Martin Laperrière, handling the forwards and the power play for a Rocket group that needs both.

Ilia Ejov returns to Laval Rocket as goaltending coach

Charles Juneau is back too, entering his fifth season as the Rocket's video coach. Laval's staff, in other words, is basically set.

Montreal's isn't. Kent Hughes has run a methodical front office since taking over as general manager, and this offseason has followed the same pattern.

Fill the depth chart with real credentials first. Make it official later. That approach works fine for player personnel.

It's a different conversation when it's the goalie coach chair, the seat that shapes development for every netminder passing through the system.

The Canadiens finished last season 48-24-10 for 106 points under Martin St-Louis, good for sixth overall in the league.

Numbers like that get you real expectations, and real expectations don't leave much patience for an unresolved coaching post heading into camp.

So why the holdup on Marciano? Nobody in the organization has said, and Hains' report doesn't offer a reason either.

Marco Marciano hasn't been confirmed as the Canadiens full time goalie coach, but Ilia Ejov, who took over with the Laval Rocket will be back with the AHL outfit. Marciano should be confirmed soon.

It's a bit like renovating the guest room while the master bedroom sits half-painted. The visible work gets done first, and the important room waits.

Ejov staying put keeps a direct line between Laval's goaltending prospects and whoever eventually runs that program at the NHL level.

That continuity matters for player development. It does nothing to answer the actual question hanging over Brossard right now.

Marciano should be confirmed soon, per Hains' reporting. But "soon" has stretched through entire training camps before, and Montreal's crease situation isn't built for extended limbo.