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Kent Hughes wants another top-10 pick
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The Canadiens have acquired the 21st pick from the Los Angeles Kings.

Does this mean that Kent Hughes has finished his job?

You know the answer to that question.

After all, according to current reports, the Habs GM is very aggressive on the market.

Darren Dreger reports on Twitter that Hughes “would like” to get his hands on another top-10 pick…

And that the Montreal GM is throwing lines in the water to see if he can move up or down from the club’s (original) top-5 pick.

You have to unpack all this.

We know that some clubs are open to the idea of trading their first-round pick.

Here, I’m thinking mainly of the Blue Jackets (4th), the Utah team (6th), the Sens (7th) and the Devils (10th).

That said, if Hughes wants another top-10 pick, it’s because he has an idea in mind.

He could…

  • Select another player in the top-10
  • Use the top-10 pick to trade for a quality player
The first option could be interesting if Hughes wants to select a forward AND a defenseman in the top-10 of the draft.

With good reason: the 2024 crop is very talented… both offensively and defensively.

The other idea would be for the GM to take one of the two top-10 picks in a Kirby Dach-style deal.

If that’s what happens… Can we believe that the Habs GM will call Barry Trotz for Yaroslav Askarov, given that Juuse Saros is about to sign an eight-year contract in Nashville?

Is Kent Hughes interested in picking up Rutger McGroarty in Winnipeg?

Will the GM experiment with Eric Tulsky to get Martin Necas out of Carolina?

The options are (almost) limitless, and that’s the beauty of it.

But one thing’s for sure… Kent Hughes is proving once again that he’s not afraid to make a move at the draft.

And that’s what makes him such a creative GM.


Overtime

– Oh.

– Interesting…

– It changes things a bit.

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