Canadiens: Hughes Is a Man With a Plan
Since being appointed the Montreal Canadiens GM, Kent Hughes has stayed true to the plan he revealed when he first spoke to the Montreal media.
John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports - Canadiens: Hughes Is a Man With a PlanWhen Kent Hughes was introduced as the new Montreal Canadiens GM in January 2022, he explained how he planned to run his team and what kind of team he wanted to have.
He gained many fans in an instant when he said that in an ideal world, his version of the Montreal Canadiens would be a speedy offensive-minded team, and one that would fit the coach for which it played. Right there and then, it felt like a wind of change was blowing in Montreal.
The most meaningful quote from that initial media availability, for me, remains this one:
To give an example, I find analytics are very important, to have information. The question becomes how do we use that information? Do we use that information solely to make decisions on players? Or do we use that information to ask with our development team that, knowing this data, can we take it and use it to improve the player, or can we use it to determine that the player isn’t good anymore? I remember, a long time ago when Ron Hextall was in Philadelphia, he told me, ‘We are in the business of buying high and selling low.’ So, what can we do to avoid that approach?
Hughes put his cards on the table that day, he was not just in the business of rebuilding a team, but he would also do his best to rebuild players with whatever means necessary. The Canadiens' GM wants to buy low and sell high unlike former Flyers' GM Ron Hextall and he sure has done it since the start of his tenure in Montreal.
It became quite clear when he made the Bell Centre shake with two trades at the 2022 draft. First he sent Alexander Romanov (a player who was seen as a stretch when Montreal picked him at 38th-overall at the 2018 draft) to the New York Islanders for a first-round pick and then, he packaged that pick along with a second-round pick and sent them to the Chicago Blackhawks in return for third-overall pick at the 2019 draft Kirby Dach.
In the middle of July 2022, he sent disgruntled defenseman Jeff Petry and former first-round pick Ryan Poehling to the Pittsburgh Penguins in return for Michael Matheson and a fourth-round pick. A fleece if there ever was one. Matheson has been a workhorse for the Canadiens and has great offensive instincts while Petry and Poehling had very short stays in the Steel City.
A month lather, he pounced on the unsuspecting Calgary Flames, taking Sean Monahan and a first-round pick off their hands for... well, for nothing. The plan was to flip Monahan for assets at the trade deadline, but injuries derailed it. Not to worry, Hughes signed him to a reasonable one-year contract for the next season and traded him to the Winnipeg Jets for a 2024 first-round pick and a conditional third-round pick at the 2027 draft. Meaning two years of Monahan got him two first rounders. Oh, and that 2024 first-round pick? It became Michael Hage thanks to another trade with the Kings.
On the eve of the 2023 draft, Hughes struck again. He got Alex Newhook, the 16th-overall pick from the 2019 draft, in return for Gianni Fairbrother and a first and second round pick.
And then yesterday, he used a defenseman who was picked 77th-overall in the third round of the 2018 draft to acquire not only the second-overall pick of the 2016 draft in Patrik Laine but also, a second-round pick at the 2026 draft. To be perfectly honest, I thought I had misread the news and Montreal was given a second-rounder, but I hadn't. Granted Laine is a gamble, but when the bet is so low you can't say no.
Hughes has full confidence in his development staff and he's not afraid of taking on players that need rebuilding, he's got just the right tools for fine tuning.
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