Three years after being hired: Kent Hughes, Jeff Gorton’s best bet

Three years ago, the Canadian hired Kent Hughes. As he himself had suggested a few months earlier, Jeff Gorton went beyond the usual framework by making a former players’ agent the 18^e general manager of the Habs.

“We want to find someone who has a different perspective than mine,” said Gorton, named vice-president of hockey operations the previous November.

Gorton was right since in a recent interview on the JiC show, Hughes revealed that his boss had given him the nickname “no deal”.

By offering him a five-year contract, Gorton gave him the freedom to carry out a thoughtful reconstruction, without rushing. Three years later, what about this clash of ideas?

We wouldn’t have said the same thing a month ago, but the team’s progress is following a positive direction. At the time of Hughes’ hiring, the Habs posted a 7-25-5 record and were in last place in the overall standings.

As of today, for the first time since its presence in the Stanley Cup final in 2021, the Montreal team is indeed in the race for the playoffs.

Tight management

The Habs owe this progression to the Cartesian spirit of Hughes. How many general managers have tried to rush the process and royally failed?

Hughes never deviated from his plan. At least, not yet. He didn’t splurge on the free agent market (Alex Barré-Boulet is his only catch in three summers). He never let himself be tempted by rental players and he always refused to sacrifice the future of the team for a temporary shock.

Even in the distribution of his contracts, he acted in moderation (one day, perhaps Juraj Slafkovsky’s contract will be handed to him, but perhaps not). It must be said that his predecessor had handcuffed him a bit with ball-and-chain contracts offered to Brendan Gallagher, Josh Anderson, Jeff Petry and Carey Price.

This tight management of finances means that next season, with the salary cap which will be increased by approximately $5 million, increasing it from $88 million to $93 million, Hughes could begin the campaign with a cushion of nearly about ten million dollars. Which would put him in an excellent position to attract a big name when he considers that the time has come to aim even higher than the mix.

Upstream work

That said, we should not throw the work of Marc Bergevin into oblivion. The latter had his faults, especially from an interpersonal point of view, but he still left Hughes with a good starting core.

Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Jake Evans, Samuel Montembeault, David Savard, Josh Anderson, Christian Dvorak, Joel Armia and Gallagher (drafted under Pierre Gauthier) were all already wearing the blue-white-red when Hughes arrived.

Kaiden Guhle, Jakub Dobes and Jayden Struble, who later joined the team, were drafted during the Bergevin era. Arber Xhekaj was also signed in the final months of the former Hartford Whalers’ reign.

And that’s without counting the pieces of the puzzle that Hughes was able to use on the transaction market. Jordan Harris, Jeff Petry, Alex Romanov, Artturi Lehkonen and Brett Kulak, among others.

Moreover, since taking office, Hughes has made 35 transactions. These allowed him to get his hands on 23 draft picks, including six first round and four second round.

Choices which he used to seek out young veterans (Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook) or which allowed him to improve his selection rank (Michael Hage).

All this to say that it has been a long time since we have seen a five-year plan follow its course in such a linear fashion.

Work that risks earning him the renewal of an agreement before the end of his current contract.

His best shot: Sean Monahan

Who can boast of getting a top player, two first-round picks and a third-round pick without giving anything in return?

Hughes proved that he had quite a flair by offering Brad Treliving, his counterpart from the Calgary Flames, to relieve him of Sean Monahan and his $6.375 million contract in August 2022. Obviously, Hughes does not wasn’t going to rid Treliving of an injured player without demanding compensation. To which the Flames GM acquiesced by sending Monahan a conditional first-round pick (2025 or 2026).

A year and a half later, as the trade deadline approached, the Canadiens’ general manager traded Monahan to Winnipeg for a 2024 first-round pick (which the Canadiens used in a pact with the Kings to move up in draft rank and select Michael Hage) and a conditional 2027 third-round pick.

In the meantime, although he missed 57 games due to a broken right foot, the Ontarian provided valuable services to the Habs. In 74 games, he collected 52 points, including 19 goals.

A flawless journey… for now

No CEO is perfect. They all drop the ball at some point in their journey. The future will tell us, but for now, Kent Hughes seems to have hit the nail on the head in each of his transactions.

Right now, Hughes’ success will depend on the services provided by Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook. For each of these forwards, Hughes offered a first-round pick (in addition to a third-round pick for Dach and a second-round pick for Newhook).

And the way things have been going for them since their arrival in Montreal, there is reason to wonder if it wasn’t too much to pay. Maybe. Except that it is important to remember that none of the sacrificed first round choices originally belonged to the Canadian. Both had been acquired in previous transactions.

Furthermore, some will argue that the trade that sent Artturi Lehkonen to Colorado in return for Justin Barron and a second-round pick could look like a mistake. However, this choice is one of three that the Habs offered to the Kings to advance their right to speak and select Michael Hage at 21^e rank of the last draft. If Hage becomes a top player, we’ll congratulate Hughes.