Kent Hughes and his desire to find his former customers

This afternoon, Kent Hughes repatriated one of his former clients.

The Habs’ GM claimed Colin White in the waivers, a forward who had great potential but never lived up to expectations in the end.

That said, White’s name has been linked to that of the Habs in recent years because there was a direct link with the GM.

Seeing Hughes go for a guy he knows isn’t really surprising in a way…

Because there seems to be a bit of a trend going on in Montreal.

When I talk about the trend that’s taking hold, I’m talking about the fact that Kent Hughes likes to get his hands on his former clients.

Colin White comes to mind…

But we can also think of Alex Newhook, Mike Matheson and Anthony Richard, three guys who have played (or are playing) in Montreal since the GM was hired by the Flannel.

At a certain point, it’s a good idea to put your trust in guys you already know. But Kent Hughes shouldn’t look only at the players he knows, because that will limit him in his decisions and in the plans he wants to develop for the team’s future.

That said, there are the old clients, but there are also the players who come from Boston.

We know that Kent Hughes coached the Jr. Boston Eagles, that he studied at Boston College… And that he loves the guys who come from there.

Remember how much he would have loved to have gotten his hands on Will Smith in the last draft? Hughes loved the right-handed forward’s profile, but he also knew him very well, having coached him in the minors.

That’s where the idea of having a duo (Hughes – Gorton) can become important. Jeff Gorton has to be there to calibrate things a bit, because the GM can’t always rely on the players he knows.

Once in a while, that’s okay… But it shouldn’t become a habit either.

It doesn’t work that way in the NHL, at least.

In gusto

– Habs lose tonight. 3-0!

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– Montreal Canadiens (@CanadiensMTL) February 22, 2024

– Come on!

– Good point.

– Will he change address?