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Trip to Russia: Kent Hughes didn’t just go to observe Ivan Demidov

 DansLesCoulisses.com
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Trip to Russia: Kent Hughes didn’t just go to observe Ivan Demidov
Credit: Getty Images
Kent Hughes has been in Russia for a few days to visit Ivan Demidov.

Let’s say that the young prospect of the Canadiens knows how to impress his bosses, having managed to score while playing less than 10 minutes in Thursday’s game.

Since Hughes is on another continent, it was Jeff Gorton who met with the media on Thursday evening to discuss the trade that brought Alexandre Carrier to Montreal. Even though the number one topic was Carrier, Gorton did not escape two questions about his colleague’s trip to Russia.

The executive vice president of hockey operations for the Canadiens revealed that Hughes was not only there to see one prospect of the CH during this trip.

In his response, Gorton stated that it was an opportunity for Kent Hughes to see “more than one player”. The list of Canadiens prospects in Russia is quite short once Demidov’s name is removed.

It is known that Hughes attended Thursday’s game between SKA St. Petersburg and Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod. The latter team includes Bogdan Konyushkov among its ranks, a defenseman drafted by the Canadiens in 2023.

Kent Hughes was able to see him in action at the same time as Demidov, who was the most used defenseman for Torpedo with 23:20 of ice time. He finished the game with a -1 plus/minus and one blocked shot.

However, it is unclear whether Kent Hughes had the opportunity to meet Konyushkov. It would be a good idea to do so, as the defenseman had stated in September that he did not talk much with the Canadiens organization because he is a secondary prospect.

Thus, it was a good opportunity for Hughes to make his prospect happy by going to meet him.

The only other prospect who might have received a visit is Yevgeni Volokhin. However, that would be surprising, as the last game for the Sochi goalie was Wednesday and he wasn’t even a starter. He came in as a backup midway through the game.

Makar Khanin was another option. That would also be quite surprising, as the Canadiens’ seventh-round pick in 2024 has only played three games in the KHL since the start of the season.

Justin Barron did not request a trade

Jeff Gorton was asked a lot of questions about Alexandre Carrier on Thursday, in addition to answering two others about Kent Hughes’ trip to Russia.

He took the time to clarify that Justin Barron had never requested a trade from the Canadiens.

There have never really been any rumors about this, but it could have been a possibility since Barron was often left out by Martin St. Louis.

Barron has only played 17 of the Canadiens’ 31 games since the beginning of the season.

Gorton was ready to part with a young defenseman like Barron. He felt that the defensive corps needed players with more NHL experience to achieve greater success.


In Brief

– He plays well and admits his mistakes.

– Kakko is ready for his fresh start.

– Things are underway in Calgary.

– A good reaction from Sosa.

– Wow.

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