Kent Hughes: “We’re having a lot of discussions; we’ll see.”

The 2026 NHL Draft is set to begin in a few minutes. And as of now, the Canadiens still hold the 28th overall pick.

We expected that pick to be traded… but it's still in Montreal.

The question is whether the Habs will actually end up making a pick at that spot. We know the team is active and talking to many teams, so there's still a possibility of a trade tonight.

And Kent Hughes, in an interview with TVA Sports before the draft began, was asked whether he would be able to make a trade tonight. His response?

“We're having a lot of discussions; we'll see.” – Kent Hughes

The GM acknowledged that the current market is very favorable to sellers, as clubs are trying to get top dollar due to an extremely thin free-agent market. That means you have to overpay… and true to form, Hughes says that's not what he wants to do.

He wasn't going to say otherwise, of course. If he had, he would have put himself in a position of weakness in the market.

We don't yet know what the Habs will do tonight, but Kent Hughes doesn't seem ready to rule out a trade just yet. And we know that the GM, as we've seen in recent years, usually has a flair for the dramatic during the draft.

Will he pull it off again this year? We'll find out later tonight.

Extended Coverage

In addition to Kent Hughes, the TVA Sports panel also had a brief chat with Julien BriseBois. He discussed the case of Darren Raddysh, who left the Lightning to continue his career with Toronto.

Here's the full interview, for those interested.

“Raddysh was looking to sign with Toronto” – Julien BriseBois🤝 pic.twitter.com/Iv78ZeeDvv

— TVA Sports (@TVASports) June 26, 2026