Kent Hughes says he’s confident: he’ll make a trade

Trading Luke Tuch and William Trudeau and moving up in the draft—those are trades.

But when people say that Habs fans are expecting a trade from Kent Hughes, that's not exactly the first thing that comes to mind, let's say.

Expectations are higher than that. And this week, those expectations weren't met.

And Kent Hughes knows it. At a press conference after the first round of the draft, the Canadiens' GM made a point of reassuring the team's fans by telling them that his window of opportunity to make a move isn't closed yet.

He knows a trade is expected (he has to be the one to make the first move) and he's not afraid to tell the fans: he's going to do something about it. He just doesn't know when. It could be late…

“I'm confident we're going to be able to do something. I can't tell you when.” – Kent Hughes, not limiting the Canadiens' trade window to this week or even this summer.

— Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) June 27, 2026

The fact that they held the draft tonight doesn't change anything in his eyes.

Why? Because he believes it wasn't his late first-round pick that tipped the scales regarding the possibility of acquiring an impact player via trade.

The GM, who noted that he can trade picks in the future or even players who were previously selected in the first round, believes that the fact that several high picks (top-10) have been traded has diminished the value of late-first-round picks.

He therefore preferred to draft a player who was well-liked throughout the organization.

Kent Hughes mentions that the increased number of available top-10 picks diluted the trade value of late first-round picks this year.

— Marco D'Amico (@mndamico) June 27, 2026

The GM also noted that he's receiving numerous calls about his prospects. He's open to making moves in that direction, but any trade must absolutely be worth it if he's going to make one. That's not easy to do when you don't control the market as a buyer.

We'll see. But the GM said it's going to happen even if it costs a lot, so…

contract extension

– Kent Hughes reiterated that a player he can sign to a long-term deal is more appealing. A player whose contract is expiring isn't a deal he's eager to make this summer.

– The GM prefers the centralized draft to what we've seen over the past two years.

– According to the Canadiens' executive, we should expect the market to be active in the coming days. And it could stretch well into the summer.

– Did Kent Hughes let slip that Ivar Sterberg is the most talented player in the 2026 draft?