Kent Hughes is GM of the Year so far, says Tony Marinaro

Michaël Petit
Kent Hughes is GM of the Year so far, says Tony Marinaro
Credit: Screenshot / X

All Montreal Canadiens fans can say one thing about Kent Hughes: he's one of the best general managers to come out of Montreal in a long time.

There's no doubt about it, and that's rare enough in Montreal.

The Kirby Dach move is probably his only bad move so far, although it's still a little too early to say for sure.

However, the list of good (even excellent) moves is very long. We can obviously think of all the cheap signings of players like Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Lane Hutson, and even Mike Matheson.

And that's not even mentioning high-priced additions like Phillip Danault and Alexandre Texier.

All these reasons lead Tony Marinaro to believe that, as we speak, Kent Hughes is GM of the Year. That's what he said on the latest episode of his podcast.

“Everything the Habs touch and everything Kent Hughes has done turns to gold.” – Tony Marinaro

Indeed, many GMs must be jealous of what Kent Hughes does.

But it's not just the trade itself that makes Hughes' deals and signings pay off. As we all know, the Habs build an incredible culture within the club, and it's this that brings out the best in players, and it's also what makes players sign at a discount.

We all agree that Matheson, Caufield, and Hutson would never have signed this type of contract elsewhere: Habs players want to stay in Montreal.

The same goes for Alexandre Texier. As he says, he's never had an experience like playing for the Habs.

The city of Montreal and its fans have more demanding aspects, such as the pressure, but all the happiness and the incredible experience of playing regularly at the Bell Centre more than make up for it.

As Marinaro mentioned in the excerpt from his podcast above, there are certainly other GMs out there right now thinking, “Why didn't we sign Texier? Why didn't we give Danault a 2nd-round pick?

When you see players who are happy to play for a team, it brings out the best in them, and that might not have been the case elsewhere in the NHL.

I'm ready to say that Kent Hughes is a genius. To have made so many good shots for so few not-so-good ones is pretty rare.

Let's hope the Habs keep him for as long as possible. I don't see how Kent Hughes could leave Montreal. It certainly won't happen soon, especially with his recent five-year contract extension.


Overtime

– Incredible.

– Good news for the Maple Leafs.

– Great contract for both sides.

– Makes sense.

– Read on.

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