Hockey

Kent Hughes has never tried to speed up the rebuild
Mathis Therrien
Kent Hughes has never tried to speed up the rebuild
Credit: Getty Images

It has been exactly three years today that the Montreal Canadiens announced the hiring of Kent Hughes as the new general manager of the Montreal Canadiens.

At the time, many were skeptical after this bold decision by Jeff Gorton and the rest of the management team of the Canadiens to hire a former player agent who was nearing the end of his career.

Yet, here we are three years later, and let's say that no one regrets this hiring or holds anything against Gorton and the team.

Kent Hughes took over a team that was at its lowest point with a record of 7-25-7 when he arrived at the helm, and he has brought it three years later to a team that is now in the playoff mix.

In three years, Hughes has managed to put in place a solid rebuilding process (which is not yet complete obviously) without cutting corners.

And that is where the GM of the Canadiens has truly excelled, particularly in what he has not done, which is to try to speed up the rebuilding process.

Several general managers have tried in recent years to go faster and to rebuild a competitive team more quickly than expected, and often, well, they have failed.

Indeed, we think of Pierre Dorion with the Ottawa Senators or Steve Yzerman with the Detroit Red Wings.

Both GMs cut corners by making trades and signings that went against their rebuilding plan, and it severely harmed them.

That is why, thus far, we can be very grateful to Kent Hughes for not taking unnecessary risks that would have accelerated the rebuilding process for no reason.

Hughes is a patient man with a very clear plan in mind, and he has been following it to the letter since his hiring exactly three years ago.

It is a strength of Kent Hughes not to have deviated from his plan by sacrificing future elements or by signing big free agents too early.

Currently, as they are barely back in the mix, the Canadiens find themselves in an excellent position for the coming years, as they will have a nice margin of maneuver under the salary cap, allowing them to improve even further.

In short, I am not saying that Kent Hughes has been perfect since the start of his tenure.

For me, the trades of Tyler Toffoli, Artturi Lehkonen, and Alex Newhook remain questionable, and the selection of David Reinbacher is an error.

But in the end, no GM can be perfect, and so far, Hughes has managed the Canadiens' rebuilding process brilliantly by showing patience with his rational plan.

Very few, if any, fans of the Canadiens are not excited right now as we head towards the end of this season and the upcoming seasons.

So, thanks to Jeff Gorton for hiring Kent Hughes and hats off to the latter for quickly silencing the skeptics.

To learn more, I refer you to this excellent article by Jonathan Bernier for TVA Sports.


In Brief

– Happy birthday Kaiden!

– To follow with the Canadiens today.

– Sidney Crosby was really happy for his goalie.

– Dmitry Simashev could come to North America as early as next season.

– Indeed.

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