Hughes is the new GM

[Willie Dog]

www.tsn.ca/montreal-canadiens-kent-hughes-general-manager-1.1747227

[Tankdriver]

Oh the Roy lovers in the French media are going to love this.

I am actually surprised by this. I thought for sure Darche or a Briere would be it.

Getting the pop corn ready!

[Willie Dog]

I was surprised how quickly this happened, I guess with all of the losses, they wanted to get the ball rolling right away.

[folatre]

This is surprising and not surprising all at the same time.

It is surprising because Hughes does not have front office experience. It is also a bit surprising because on the surface it sounds like an Anglo GM hire.

However, it is not surprising because Hughes is a sharp guy who clearly understands the financial side of the game. And it is also not surprising because Gorton already has a relationship with him. I think trust is a big factor here.

My top three were Madden, Darche, and Brodeur so I am somewhat short of thrilled. But I do not see any obvious reason why Hughes cannot do a good job. And in reality this hire kind of reinforces my sense that Gorton is the de facto GM, which is okay with me because if Gorton spoke French he would have been the best GM candidate of all.

[Tankdriver]

Yeah, I agree folatre in your assessment. Those wouldn't of been my top 3 choices but I think Hughes would make the best fit in working with Gorton. I see the leadership team in the same vein as Atkins-Shapiro, Webster-Ujiri mold that Jays and Raptors employ. You have the GM working in tandem with the President and other employees and come to a consensus pick/idea. Since Hughes has worked with Gorton before it makes sense. I think if you went with a Briere or a Darche (They still might get Assistant jobs), the media would drive a wedge, or try to create controversy to push certain agenda's.

[Skilly]

Pretty sure Hughes grew up in MTL and knows french

[NWTHabsFan]

Who is Hughes?

A Beaconsfield born bilingual player agent. A lawyer who is a good negotiator and who has represented some pretty high profile Québécois like Vinny, Bergeron and Letang. He knows GMs and will have had dealings and contact with many of them. Has been a partner is a successful Montreal based player agency (business acumen and managerial experience).

Has known Gorton for a while, and apparently has been on Gorton’s radar for a bit. While some will pounce that this is just old school nepotism, having trust and good relationships is critical in any business partnership. Gorton and Hughes have different but complementary skills.

And we don’t know who else will be named to the management team yet. A new AGM (or two) and head scout are still needed. This will be key as you have to judge the hire based on all the new talent brought in. The sum or the parts philosophy. There never was going to be one person who could step in and do the whole job, although Gorton likely is at the top of the previously available list anyway, so we are already miles ahead. I am also very interested in the names yet to be announced to round out the team. Old Boys club is over. Fresh blood has arrived, and hopefully a more progressive approach to running a club.

Oh, and a fun fact. Kent’s two sons play at Northeastern, and are teammates of Harris and Struble. Maybe the Harris ELC situation seems a bit more positive now. Jack Hughes (the younger son and obviously not related to the recent first rounder Hughes brothers) is a potential first rounder this draft.

[habsorbed]

Very happy with this selection. Based on all I've read, Hughes has way more experience and qualifications for the job than Darche or Briere. He has built a career on negotiating which is a critical skill for a gm - something MB lacked sorely (he either opened the bank or got into a war with the player, and rarely got the best of another gm). Gorton will be assessing and seeking the players the team needs and Hughes will be getting the players for a good deal. Good combo!

[seventeen]

I think Hughes or Darche would have been good choices. My guess is that Hughes was the appointed one from the start and the question was whether or not he wanted the job. He's already making a lot of money, so that would not have been a factor and he might even be taking a pay cut. I listened to a podcast (32 thoughts?) yesterday and gathered some info, which made me think the decision was based on if Hughes was interested or not.

Ryan Hughes, Kent's brother, was drafted 22nd overall by the Nordiques in 1990. He went to Cornell but never progressed far (3 NHL games with the Bruins). A comment was made by someone that if you combined Ryan Hughes hockey skills with Kent Hughes drive and determination, you'd have an unstoppable player. I took that to mean that Ryan was perhaps not as ambitious in his own development. It suggests that Kent is very focused and driven to succeed. He certainly did so with his Agent company. I also understand that Saputo bought out that company 2 or 3 years ago, so Hughes should not be lacking financially and also that the Agency business may eventually change under Saputo and getting out is not such a bad idea. New challenge for Hughes. I doubt he will much like the notoriety. He's well known, but mostly in the hockey community, not outside of it. How many of us had heard of Kent Hughes before?

If he built his own business from scratch, it shows determination, smarts and the ability to make good decisions. His business represents quite a few NHL'rs including Bergeron. That would have been a difficult part of the decision to accept the Hab's job. Can you leave all those relationships behind? That may have been why it took a little longer than expected to make the announcement. Anyway, all things considered, I'd say my initial impressions are good. I thought the same with Bergevin, though, so best to wait and see what moves are made and especially who gets hired to support the GM. I was disappointed that Timmins got canned, but it was almost inevitable. It didn't matter if he had done a good job or not, there had to be some balancing of the political factors. Bergevin couldn't be seen to be walking the plank alone. The head of amateur scouting is an absolutely key position. The most has to be made of the draft picks because that's the foundation of any team. If you don't pick well, development can't do it's job. If you have a lot of ammo, a GM can make good trades at the right time. If you have good players coming up through the system, you can play hardball with older players in contract negotiations. So many advantages, but only if you do well at the draft.

[habsask]

All good comments above.

One specific thing that I don't think has been mentioned yet is that Hughes should understand all about good Cap Management in relation to what kinds of contracts you want to give to which players and how to use the draft to provide an ongoing supply of "cheap" players to balance the team's Cap. You can see, I think, that Gorton is already looking at the latter aspect by seeing a lot of young players play.

Bergevin never had a clue about this & now Gorton & Hughes need to dig the Habs out of some bad contracts which will take time.

But so far I am pretty optimistic that Molson finally has the Habs pointed in the right direction.

Cheers

[Cranky]

The upside is they know each other. The downside is that makes it more likely that they both get the boot after or 2nd 5 year program.

I'm optimistic and soooo looking forward to joining the next cup parade in a few decades.

[halihab]

Jan 18, 2022 15:16:33 GMT -5 seventeen said:

I think Hughes or Darche would have been good choices. My guess is that Hughes was the appointed one from the start and the question was whether or not he wanted the job. He's already making a lot of money, so that would not have been a factor and he might even be taking a pay cut. I listened to a podcast (32 thoughts?) yesterday and gathered some info, which made me think the decision was based on if Hughes was interested or not.

Ryan Hughes, Kent's brother, was drafted 22nd overall by the Nordiques in 1990. He went to Cornell but never progressed far (3 NHL games with the Bruins). A comment was made by someone that if you combined Ryan Hughes hockey skills with Kent Hughes drive and determination, you'd have an unstoppable player. I took that to mean that Ryan was perhaps not as ambitious in his own development. It suggests that Kent is very focused and driven to succeed. He certainly did so with his Agent company. I also understand that Saputo bought out that company 2 or 3 years ago, so Hughes should not be lacking financially and also that the Agency business may eventually change under Saputo and getting out is not such a bad idea. New challenge for Hughes. I doubt he will much like the notoriety. He's well known, but mostly in the hockey community, not outside of it. How many of us had heard of Kent Hughes before?

If he built his own business from scratch, it shows determination, smarts and the ability to make good decisions. His business represents quite a few NHL'rs including Bergeron. That would have been a difficult part of the decision to accept the Hab's job. Can you leave all those relationships behind? That may have been why it took a little longer than expected to make the announcement. Anyway, all things considered, I'd say my initial impressions are good. I thought the same with Bergevin, though, so best to wait and see what moves are made and especially who gets hired to support the GM. I was disappointed that Timmins got canned, but it was almost inevitable. It didn't matter if he had done a good job or not, there had to be some balancing of the political factors. Bergevin couldn't be seen to be walking the plank alone. The head of amateur scouting is an absolutely key position. The most has to be made of the draft picks because that's the foundation of any team. If you don't pick well, development can't do it's job. If you have a lot of ammo, a GM can make good trades at the right time. If you have good players coming up through the system, you can play hardball with older players in contract negotiations. So many advantages, but only if you do well at the draft.

Great points 17. Your last statement asks one of the main questions I have. Who will be the next director of Scouting ? I would be OK if it is someone from the Rangers or Bruins organization. I feel they both have drafted well in the past.

[Disgruntled70sHab]

[Boston_Habs]

This will take a while to sort out and the next hires are probably just as important at Gorton/Hughes. It's a complete organizational transformation across scouting, development, physical/mental conditioning, analytics, decision making process, best practices, performance evaluation, human resources. Running a professional sports franchise is a big management job. In fairness, I don't think Marc Bergevin had any sense for how complicated the job had become. Certainly Geoff Molson didn't appreciate that either when he hired Berg in 2012 but these moves tell me that he gets it now.

Will it work? Who knows but I have faith that Gorton/Hughes have a good idea about what the organization needs to look like and what it needs to do well to succeed. It's a talent business on and off the ice and the Habs should spare no expense to bring in the best people they can find.

I guess the immediate question is how they will approach the deadline. The roster is pretty bloated with middle class players but a few of those contracts should be moveable. Accumulating assets/talent is critical and they are in a great position to be sellers.

[NWTHabsFan]

For those that want to tune into his intro press conference today at 4:00 pm ET.

[folatre]

I think you are right, Boston. The process of modernizing the organization will not bear fruit immediately, but it is very necessary. A top five club in revenue should spare no expense in all those key areas that are not cap controlled.

Unfortunately, Bergevin left a roster bloated by a handful of bad contracts for guys on the back nine of their careers. Gorton and Hughes will have little choice but to move on from a couple of those because the cap situation is so dire that they literally cannot ice a full roster next season unless a couple guys get dealt.

[Andrew]

Listening to the presser now. He's well spoken and is fluent in French. The topic of analytics has come up a few times between Hughes and Gorton.

[Cranky]

The problem with the sell off is that it's impossible with those that are actually the big problem. It crrtainly isn't Petry or Anderson unless you want to field a garbage team for years and years to come.

I'm willing to sit here and be convinced that Weber and Price is coming off the books without massive retain. Good luck...

[habsask]

Jan 19, 2022 16:30:40 GMT -5 Cranky said:

The problem with the sell off is that it's impossible with those that are actually the big problem. It crrtainly isn't Petry or Anderson unless you want to field a garbage team for years and years to come.

I'm willing to sit here and be convinced that Weber and Price is coming off the books without massive retain. Good luck...

Yea HA, big problem. And like you I'm waiting to be convinced. A lot might depend on Molson's willingness to take a loss by perhaps buying out a contract or two & replacing those guys with cheaper players, even as an interim measure.

Boy did Bergevin screw up this team's future.

[Disgruntled70sHab]

[seventeen]

We could all come up with a long list of issues that need fixing. To me, the much more important long term issues involve all the organizational positions Boston listed. You need talent throughout the group, with each working together to make good decisions. The next 4 weeks (if its even that short a time) will help determine the team's place in the standings 3 years from now.

From a player perspective, I think you have to hold on to Suzuki, Romanov, Caufield, Poehling, Guhle, Evans, Lehkonen, Primeau. Lehkonen and Evans likely aren't getting any better, but they are glue guys with enough talent and are not old. There's a place for guys like that on every team.

There are bubble guys like Toffoli (who has specifically said he'd like to stick around during a rebuild), Drouin, Dvorak. These are all mature, but still capable (Toffoli) or in their prime (Drouin and Dvorak). They'd be available but only for a good price.

The rest would all be up for trade in my books. Despite his contract, Price might still be desirable to some teams. Any potential contender with questions in goal would want him. He's not washed up. Contract retention would probably be necessary, but I'd try to keep it to $4MM. Colorado is the team that first comes to mind. Lots of talent everywhere but in goal. It killed them last year. How does Washington feel about Vanacek and Samsonov? There would be Cap issues of course, but good GM's resolve those. By TDL, Cap numbers are down enough that teams can survive until the off season. Edmonton for example, could really use Price or Allen. They have a limited window, are under pressure to win and have undesirable goaltending. Allen for a first round pick? Allen for Dylan Holloway? Allen's not just a rental and he's proven to be capable. Losing Holloway doesn't affect today's Oilers roster.

[folatre]

The problem is the two truly awful contracts (Price and Gallagher) cannot be moved without significant retention (for me it would take at least retaining one-third). Weber is not an issue, thankfully; he will be on LTIR for each of the remaining years on his contract.

I agree with HA that guys like Petry and Anderson are not a problem. You need to keep some guys who can play and with their skating they fit the vision of being part of a faster team alongside an influx of kids.

I had not heard Toffoli say that he would be willing to stick around for a rebuild. I like him (though I think 2020-21 was a career outlier) and he could fetch a first and a decent prospect. I am sure Gorton and Hughes will be carefully evaluating guys like Drouin and Dvorak since they are young enough to make sense down the line.

The reality is Montreal needs a fourth line and third pair exclusively of league mins, and a third line with relatively modest AAVs.

[Cranky]

Jan 19, 2022 16:45:23 GMT -5 habsask said:

Jan 19, 2022 16:30:40 GMT -5 Cranky said:

The problem with the sell off is that it's impossible with those that are actually the big problem. It crrtainly isn't Petry or Anderson unless you want to field a garbage team for years and years to come.

I'm willing to sit here and be convinced that Weber and Price is coming off the books without massive retain. Good luck...

Yea HA, big problem. And like you I'm waiting to be convinced. A lot might depend on Molson's willingness to take a loss by perhaps buying out a contract or two & replacing those guys with cheaper players, even as an interim measure.

Boy did Bergevin screw up this team's future.

I'm sure Bbinz wasn't planning on having 18 million on vacation. Oops....i mean fighting demons and early retirement. How dare i call it a vacation.

I had an alcoholic supervisor who came in with an overhang on a Monday morning and removed half a finger. He cost me tens of thousands in workmans comp increases. Then 6 months later, he came in with a doctors note that his finger was "tender" and needed another 6 months. We had a heart to heart that went...wear a glove and either come back or I'm letting you go. Amazingly he was in no pain and i know this because at lunch, the guys would take shots at the back of the warehouse. His shot looked grimace free...and he saw me looking at him. End of problem.

How about a bit of get real with those two. If you can't play, retire.

18 million...that's 3 top tier players.

Bbinz was no Pollock...but he's no Rasputin either.

[habsask]

Jan 19, 2022 18:26:44 GMT -5 Cranky said:

Jan 19, 2022 16:45:23 GMT -5 habsask said:

Yea HA, big problem. And like you I'm waiting to be convinced. A lot might depend on Molson's willingness to take a loss by perhaps buying out a contract or two & replacing those guys with cheaper players, even as an interim measure.

Boy did Bergevin screw up this team's future.

I'm sure Bbinz wasn't planning on having 18 million on vacation. Oops....i mean fighting demons and early retirement. How dare i call it a vacation.

I had an alcoholic supervisor who came in with an overhang on a Monday morning and removed half a finger. He cost me tens of thousands in workmans comp increases. Then 6 months later, he came in with a doctors note that his finger was "tender" and needed another 6 months. We had a heart to heart that went...wear a glove and either come back or I'm letting you go. Amazingly he was in no pain and i know this because at lunch, the guys would take shots at the back of the warehouse. His shot looked grimace free...and he saw me looking at him. End of problem.

How about a bit of get real with those two. If you can't play, retire.

18 million...that's 3 top tier players.

Bbinz was no Pollock...but he's no Rasputin either.

Yes HA, But...

These are the CAP hits I am concerned with.

Anderson $5.5 M through 23-24
Drouin $5.5 M through 22-23
Dvorak 4.450 M through 24-25
Gallagher $6.5 M through 26-27
Hoffman $4.5 M through 23-24

Weber $7.857 M through 25-26
Petry $6.25 M through 24-25

Price $10.5M through 25-26

Dead CAP $1.958M 21-22, $833K for 22-23 & 23-24 for the Alzner buyout

That is %52 of the 81.5M CAP. It is also the highest CAP hit in the entire NHL.

Re Price, yes injured but with a history of touchy knees so why such a long contract? He will be 39 when the contract ends. That's taking on a lot of risk even if he was still playing at a high level which he hasn't been for 4 years (excepting last season's playoffs).

Re Weber, yes injured but why such a long contract? He will be 41 when his contract ends. Another high risk proposition.

As for the forwards let's start with Gallagher. A History of injuries and so again why such a large & long contract? He had a history of injuries and declining production before his contract extension was signed. As for leadership? Pfft. He was sorry for Bergevin, some leadership for the other players on the team.

Points and +/- from the above this season setting aside Weber.

Anderson - 8 Goals + 6 assists = 14 points / - 14
Drouin - 6 + 14 = 20 / - 9
Dvorak - 7 + 7 = 14 / - 18
Gallagher - 4 + 6 = 10 / - 6
Hoffman - 5 + 4 = 9 / - 15

Petry - 1 + 3 = 4 / - 6

All this for %40 of the Habs' Salary CAP. Pity-full in my books.

That's why I said Bergevin screwed up the team's future. Way too much money for under performing players and for taking on high risk long term contracts (Price, Weber, Gallagher)

So, with respect HA I still see it the same way. Bergevin had no comprehension on managing the team's Salary Cap. None. The team with the highest CAP hit in the League is the worst team in the NHL.

Now Gorton, Hughes & Molson have to dig the team out from under this.

[folatre]

For sure, it is quite inadvisable in today's NHL (hard flat cap as well as younger talents commanding more money) to hand out lucrative long-term deals to guys who will be on the back nine of their careers. And it is also inadvisable to have too many 'middle class' (non-special NHLers making in that $2 to $5 million range). You certainly need a handful of those guys so long as the term is not crazy, but having almost half a roster of those types is really poor management.

Gorton/Hughes will simply have no choice but to move at least one bad long-term contract and that will obviously require retaining money, but that is the only way to muddle through 2022-23 given the cap hell Bergevin bestowed on the club. Price is such a tricky case (health issues of all types, NMC, massive AAV in a league that does not really value goalies the way it does elite forwards/d-men) that I will assume he stays. I can see trading Gallagher with one-third retention, trading one other winger (Toffoli or Hoffman or Armia), buying out Byron while replacing the departed with cheap kids and/or cheap reclamation project types.

Bergevin was an good pro scout/trader whose ceiling should have been Assistant GM somewhere. However he lacked vision, emotional detachment from his favorite players, and acumen for negotiating appropriate contracts.

[Tankdriver]

Again, seeing it like Folatre. You can't have a bunch of 5 to 6 million type players. That means you don't have elite players and you mediocre players are over paid.

I think everyone is available and you don't need to trade them all in one season. Chariot, Lekhonen, Kulak will most likely be gone, and if a good offer for Allen, him too. Next year it will be Byron, Drouin and Armia.

If you are able to get LA to take gallagher, then you got to listen.

[The Habitual Fan]

Jan 20, 2022 0:11:36 GMT -5 Tankdriver said:

Again, seeing it like Folatre. You can't have a bunch of 5 to 6 million type players. That means you don't have elite players and you mediocre players are over paid.

I think everyone is available and you don't need to trade them all in one season. Chariot, Lekhonen, Kulak will most likely be gone, and if a good offer for Allen, him too. Next year it will be Byron, Drouin and Armia.

If you are able to get LA to take gallagher, then you got to listen.

Agreed, some of these players will have more value at the trade deadline next year than this year, and you just can't gut a team of almost everyone at one time. You need veteran guys on your team, even the bad ones.
Chariot, Kulak, Paquette, Wideman, and Allen are all guys that can be traded at the deadline. Hoffman, Dvorak, Byron and Petry are probably more off season moves although I heard Detroit is high on Petry for this year and to help mentor the young players they have.

What I really like about Gorton and Hughes is that they have no loyalty to any of these players so will want to do what is best for the team, with no emotion attached. If Price and Weber can't play they will find a way to get them off the books and if Savard or Gallagher can't be traded in the next 1-2 years they will buy them out.

The 22-23 season will be a transition year for the team and it should look much different by the 23-24 season.

[Boston_Habs]

You do need to be careful when you gut a team. Sometimes being bad just begets more bad (see Buffalo, Edmonton). The trick is to find the right balance while keeping a positive culture. Obviously you can't get rid of EVERYONE.

Besides Chiarot, Toffoli probably has the most value in terms of being a good player with a great contract.

I'd also look to stagger 1st round picks by trying to deal guys for 1st round picks in 2023 and 2024. You can get lucky with some of those future 1st round picks if they are unprotected or if a team ends up regressing. If I have the choice of getting the 27th pick in the 1st round this year or a 1st next year that has a decent chance of being a top 10 pick, I'm probably inclined to take the 1st next year.

Right now the guys who are serious about competing need to show that for the new regime. If you play like you don't care about being a pro then I want no part of you.

Hughes said his ideal team is an offensive team so the focus has to be on getting faster, more skilled, more creative, more aggressive.

I can't see how Ducharme survives.

[frozone]

For the first time in a long time, the club is directionally correct in it's approach to running an NHL franchise. This alone will pay dividends.

I really like KH's demeanor, even moreso than Gorton's. I get the sense that Hughes has done harder things in his life than being GM of the Montreal Canadiens. Whether that's true or not, I don't really care, but a calm and level headed presence at the top is something that we haven't seen since Gainey was GM.

Based on first impression alone, I like Hughes a lot in the sense that I think he can and will be a good manager of people. But I do think that the Assistant GM position now becomes an extremely important hire. Between Gorton and Hughes, I think we're very strong in the visionary/management departments, but imo they need to be complimented by someone with a bit more player-side experience who understands the Montreal market well. Perhaps this is where a Darche more logically fits into the picture. A trio of Gorton, Hughes and Darche would certainly represent a diverse background and skillset.

[duster]

Jan 20, 2022 11:41:57 GMT -5 frozone said:

For the first time in a long time, the club is directionally correct in it's approach to running an NHL franchise. This alone will pay dividends.

I really like KH's demeanor, even moreso than Gorton's. I get the sense that Hughes has done harder things in his life than being GM of the Montreal Canadiens. Whether that's true or not, I don't really care, but a calm and level headed presence at the top is something that we haven't seen since Gainey was GM.

Based on first impression alone, I like Hughes a lot in the sense that I think he can and will be a good manager of people. But I do think that the Assistant GM position now becomes an extremely important hire. Between Gorton and Hughes, I think we're very strong in the visionary/management departments, but imo they need to be complimented by someone with a bit more player-side experience who understands the Montreal market well. Perhaps this is where a Darche more logically fits into the picture. A trio of Gorton, Hughes and Darche would certainly represent a diverse background and skillset.

At first glance, Hughes comes across as a pro as does Gorton. There's a mind at work. I agree with you about the new AGM. Darche would fit in nicely.

I think amateur hour might be over at last. To be fair, I thought so when Gainey took over. Still, I don't expect the return of Michel Therrien anytime soon.