Tribute Congratulations Kent Hughes for the best trade deadline in recent Habs history!

[HabsCowboysOwn]

I like Hughes and Gorton (a lot), but we are in the Honeymoon phase. Let's see how long it lasts.

The only way it won't last is if they turn out to be complete frauds with no vision and no plan like Bergevin and judging by what they've showed us so far, I don't think it will happen.

 

[Spearmint Rhino]

Has anyone read this article on Kent Hughes reflecting on his first trade deadline as GM? What strikes me most, is just how intelligent he is. And I feel awful saying this but our last administrations didn't scream, to me at least, brilliant people really putting a lot of foresight into things or having a plan passed the upcoming or current year. He's also surrounded by alot of very intelligent people as well and I'm sure even more will come on board this offseason. The effects it has on things is not just reflected on the ice but off and it'll bring a high level of professionalism to our favourite organzation for the first time in quite a long time. I'm very excited to see where things go the next couple of years, even if things don't pan out (sports are awfully hard to win championships in, especially hockey) at least I for one will have a little more pride for the organization and how they handle themselves. I'm SURE this sort of thing goes into a players thinking when they hit FA and are looking for a spot to settle into and when other GM's are having dealings with Hughes.

Anyhoo..yeah good read (ps sorry if im not allowed to post a link or if there is a certian way to do it. Been here for like over a decade and a half, but never posted a link lol)

MSN

www.msn.com

Much better than if you want loyalty buy a dog, endless excuses about it being hard in Montreal and banking on Hope as a Plan

As for the Honeymoon phase, I’d prefer Hughes as the main spokesperson going forward, just so refreshing and intelligent - maybe Gorton is helping out lots in the background and anything is better than Molson involved - but he comes off really awkward when he speaks especially when he talks after Hughes and really adds nothing to the topic, or something cringeworthy like his wife’s going to miss Chiarot.

 

[BLONG7]

The only way it won't last is if they turn out to be complete frauds with no vision and no plan like Bergevin and judging by what they've showed us so far, I don't think it will happen.

HuGo is the exact opposite of BargainBin................they have intelligence, and know what they are doing. There is without a doubt a vision and a plan here...we are in good hands.

 

[HuGort]

Hughes only traded the team friendly contracts though. They easy to trade every team will want those kind of players. Guys like Lehkonen and them, Chiarot. They good players who play will in playoffs last year. A 12 year old kid could do that Then he retained on all of them then. Except for Toffoli. But Toffoli was a steal. A late first and B prospect for gritty 30 goal scorer locked up long term on cheap contract. Hughes got took there.

He couldn't move the big contracts. Petry and those Guys, Weber another one. A few big contracts moved.

 

[Jack Skellington]

Hughes only traded the team friendly contracts though. They easy to trade every team will want those kind of players. Guys like Lehkonen and them, Chiarot. They good players who play will in playoffs last year. A 12 year old kid could do that Then he retained on all of them then. Except for Toffoli. But Toffoli was a steal. A late first and B prospect for gritty 30 goal scorer locked up long term on cheap contract. Hughes got took there.

He couldn't move the big contracts. Petry and those Guys, Weber another one. A few big contracts moved.

He had no reason to move them at the deadline and no one would take them right now anyways. Those happen in the offseason or next deadline for the expiring deals. Some of these guys might be playing much better by then anyways. Hughes moved the guys who were all playing over their heads and typical career levels for huge overpayments which is the absolute best thing you can do in a rebuild.

 

[Whitesnake]

We could have done more than Smilanic and Heineman. And also knowing that both 1st round picks will be insanely late. Let's hope there's a Brendan Brisson to find that late....Barron is huge though. But we didn't maximize the value. I wished we would have had lesser picks, but better prospects.

We have to MAXIMIZE this summer more. Somehow. With tougher contracts to move....good luck.

 

[Deebs]

I like Hughes and Gorton (a lot), but we are in the Honeymoon phase. Let's see how long it lasts.

As with any regime, over time they'll make their fair of mistakes or moves that fans don't agree with. It has to happen. If they can get the team turned around and become competitive annually while setting themselves up for a legitimate cup run for a few years down the road, they've done their job.

 

[BargainBinSpecial]

After witnessing the haul received for Lek and Kulak, I believe the trigger was pulled to soon for Toff. Honestly though, would have loved to see him stick around for a while longer.

I am eager to see how this team will rid themselves of the grotesque contracts of Weber, Price, Gallagher, Anderson and Armia. Byron and Drouin are off the books next year and if KH can repeat, then this organization has finally some sense of direction and vision.

It's also about player development, in the end, and I would like to see all those picks turn into something of substance.

Also, they should have tried to maximize on other impending UFAs like Pitlick, Dauphin, Déa, Balpedio, Wideman, Vejdemo, Belzille and Ouellet. Then again, most of these guys have close to nil value.

 

[Karma Police]

After witnessing the haul received for Lek and Kulak, I believe the trigger was pulled to soon for Toff. Honestly though, would have loved to see him stick around for a while longer.

I am eager to see how this team will rid themselves of the grotesque contracts of Weber, Price, Gallagher, Anderson and Armia. Byron and Drouin are off the books next year and if KH can repeat, then this organization has finally some sense of direction and vision.

It's also about player development, in the end, and I would like to see all those picks turn into something of substance.

Also, they should have tried to maximize on other impending UFAs like Pitlick, Dauphin, Déa, Balpedio, Wideman, Vejdemo, Belzille and Ouellet. Then again, most of these guys have close to nil value.

I'm 95% sure Toffoli asked to be traded to a canadian contender.

 

[Whitesnake]

After witnessing the haul received for Lek and Kulak, I believe the trigger was pulled to soon for Toff. Honestly though, would have loved to see him stick around for a while longer.

I am eager to see how this team will rid themselves of the grotesque contracts of Weber, Price, Gallagher, Anderson and Armia. Byron and Drouin are off the books next year and if KH can repeat, then this organization has finally some sense of direction and vision.

It's also about player development, in the end, and I would like to see all those picks turn into something of substance.

Also, they should have tried to maximize on other impending UFAs like Pitlick, Dauphin, Déa, Balpedio, Wideman, Vejdemo, Belzille and Ouellet. Then again, most of these guys have close to nil value.

It's not about moving too soon or too late. It's about not getting enough. You move soon and you get Pelletier or Coronato, nobody cares about when he moved. Pelletier and Coronato not being available is one thing. And it's fine. Other teams don't have to give us always what we want. The problem is this....did we REALLY target more Heineman than those guys? It seems to me that Heineman was the real target. Clearly, he has what teams want some size, great speed. And might actually be better than we think. And at the draft day, I was mad we didn't have a chance to get him. So not saying he's not a good player. But for Toffoli, I really think we could have done more. So it's all about our inability to find gems in late rounds. And Heineman's development.

 

[JianYang]

On a stacked team, Lehkonen is an excellent 3rd liner, but you can treat him a like a Swiss army knife because he can play up and down the lineup if needed, plus he's a good PK option. Anybody who saw tampa curbstomp the habs should have been able to identify that it was actually their middle 6 guys that made the big plays all series. It's not as sexy to talk about them but that's the level of impact a guy like Lehkonen can have in the middle 6 as a Blake coleman type on a contender.

I think he's taken some steps since the playoff run, and he is now pretty much starting his prime years.

The frustration with Lehkonen was his discipline, as he would take alot of poor penalties, but I haven't seen that this season too much. Offensively, I think he gets his fair share of chances. He doesn't take advantage of his chances as much as you would hope, but if he had that touch, we would be talking about a star, because he does everything else so well.

Colorado gets a player with a great motor who gives them some playoff toughness.... Something the Avs looked like they were sorely missing in last year's run. I thought it was going to take a late first to get him, and that's the value Barron fills, but to get someone a little further along than a raw pick, and get another 2nd rounder is good business by hughes.

It's also comforting to see hughes extracted that value out of arguably the shrewdest GM in the game in Sakic.

The kulak deal was the one that surprised me. I'm not paying a 2nd for kulak even though I like him, but the defensive market seemed to go Bonkers after the hamonic deal went down. If hamonic gets a 3rd, kulak surely can do better than that.

 

[JianYang]

Kadri, Nazem... look him up. 31 this year and putting up double his career ppg pace.

Lek's already had "more" than 10-15 goal season, so it is false to say he can provide "nothing more".

Too bad kadri is entering suspension season soon.

 

[catmanhabsfan]

I agree we might have gotten more for Toffoli, and I also agree this is the easy part for Hughes right now, but at least he handled himself well and I think it sent a huge message to the other GM's that things are chaning here. The fact he has some empathy for the players, knowing he's affecting their lives, their families lives, this will not go unnoticed I'm sure of that. He'll make mistakes, he'll hit home runs, its normal and par for the course. I guess for me I'm really just speaking to a huge cultural shift and regardless of errors he may make or things he'll do well, I feel like they are profiessionals, they are going to be very well respected and it's just nice to see that. Of course I want a cup but I also like not being embarrassed by our front office and our organization in general. It's already night and day compared to the Bergevin regime, honey moon phase or not. We finally seem to have hired some people not tied to our past glories or failures. Its fresh, its forward thinking and as much as I think Molson seemed like he had no idea what he was doing all these years, something woke him up and he's taken some risks in hiring these guys. I do believe we've turned a corner, as an organization. I'm not annointing Hughes and Gorton the greatest of all time, just a real nice change of scenery finally.

 

[The Last Red]

I still can’t believe HuGo got a first round pick for Ben Chiarot, who, while he has a bunch of delusional fans here who think he’s good, is utter trash on most nights.

 

[GrandBison]

I agree we might have gotten more for Toffoli, and I also agree this is the easy part for Hughes right now, but at least he handled himself well and I think it sent a huge message to the other GM's that things are chaning here. The fact he has some empathy for the players, knowing he's affecting their lives, their families lives, this will not go unnoticed I'm sure of that. He'll make mistakes, he'll hit home runs, its normal and par for the course. I guess for me I'm really just speaking to a huge cultural shift and regardless of errors he may make or things he'll do well, I feel like they are profiessionals, they are going to be very well respected and it's just nice to see that. Of course I want a cup but I also like not being embarrassed by our front office and our organization in general. It's already night and day compared to the Bergevin regime, honey moon phase or not. We finally seem to have hired some people not tied to our past glories or failures. Its fresh, its forward thinking and as much as I think Molson seemed like he had no idea what he was doing all these years, something woke him up and he's taken some risks in hiring these guys. I do believe we've turned a corner, as an organization. I'm not annointing Hughes and Gorton the greatest of all time, just a real nice change of scenery finally.

Trading a pending RFA in Lehkonen is also something new. Bergevin made some good trades but he seemed never willing to commit to sell high for marginal players like Kulak and Lehkonen.

 

[catmanhabsfan]

Trading a pending RFA in Lehkonen is also something new. Bergevin made some good trades but he seemed never willing to commit to sell high for marginal players like Kulak and Lehkonen.

Yes exactly! Maximizing value, identifying an opportunity and a time frame to an actual plan and noting lehknonen, although a solid player, is redundant within our current cap dilema.

 

[MilesNewton]

Will be interesting to see Kent Hughes relationship with other agents when it comes to negotiating contracts. Curious if there are any agents out there that will play hardball with contracts or steer their clients away from signing with the Habs. They have an uphill battle as it is with high taxes and a team in transition. Will be fun to watch.

 

[Jack Skellington]

Will be interesting to see Kent Hughes relationship with other agents when it comes to negotiating contracts. Curious if there are any agents out there that will play hardball with contracts or steer their clients away from signing with the Habs. They have an uphill battle as it is with high taxes and a team in transition. Will be fun to watch.

There could definitely be some bitterness. Is he the first former agent GM in the NHL?

 

[bighab]

This deadline is the straw that broke the camels back - finally had to make an account.

In general I'm really happy with HuGo's work - not beat a dead horse, but the Chairot, Lehky & Kulak deals were fantastic. However, I've been reading a lot of strange takes on the Toffoli deal - wanted to raise some points.

Montreal has an obvious logjam of wingers. Marty identified Anderson & Caufield as our top two. Since Toffoli arrived he had been playing on the top line, namely with Suzuki. Then we have guys like Gallagher & Hoffman who, in order for them to succeed, need to see 2/3 line minutes. We also have Bryron, Armia, Pezz, and several Laval guys who suit our team in lesser roles. I think they identified Toffoli as the odd man out - he was eating ice time that could just as easily go to someone else.

Realistically, they could have held Toffoli for another week or two - but that would mean playing him on the second line or lower (given Anderson & Caufield being promoted). Toffoli playing second, maybe third line minutes could have just as easily lowered his value. They traded him at a time where he was playing top line minutes in MTL - in theory this should be the peak of his value. By holding him longer you're either going to be having him play on the top line, or in a reduced roll. Top line Toffoli holds Caufield and Anderson back & playing him in a reduced roll lowers his value. They traded him at the perfect time.

Maybe they could have gotten more. Or maybe keeping him that extra bit delays Caufield's awakening. Or maybe if they keep him he & starts to slump on the third line and they trade him for less. There's a lot of what ifs. The sure thing they got was pretty good, and keeping him longer was a gamble. What more could you want?

 

[catmanhabsfan]

This deadline is the straw that broke the camels back - finally had to make an account.

In general I'm really happy with HuGo's work - not beat a dead horse, but the Chairot, Lehky & Kulak deals were fantastic. However, I've been reading a lot of strange takes on the Toffoli deal - wanted to raise some points.

Montreal has an obvious logjam of wingers. Marty identified Anderson & Caufield as our top two. Since Toffoli arrived he had been playing on the top line, namely with Suzuki. Then we have guys like Gallagher & Hoffman who, in order for them to succeed, need to see 2/3 line minutes. We also have Bryron, Armia, Pezz, and several Laval guys who suit our team in lesser roles. I think they identified Toffoli as the odd man out - he was eating ice time that could just as easily go to someone else.

Realistically, they could have held Toffoli for another week or two - but that would mean playing him on the second line or lower (given Anderson & Caufield being promoted). Toffoli playing second, maybe third line minutes could have just as easily lowered his value. They traded him at a time where he was playing top line minutes in MTL - in theory this should be the peak of his value. By holding him longer you're either going to be having him play on the top line, or in a reduced roll. Top line Toffoli holds Caufield and Anderson back & playing him in a reduced roll lowers his value. They traded him at the perfect time.

Maybe they could have gotten more. Or maybe keeping him that extra bit delays Caufield's awakening. Or maybe if they keep him he & starts to slump on the third line and they trade him for less. There's a lot of what ifs. The sure thing they got was pretty good, and keeping him longer was a gamble. What more could you want?

I think importantly as well, not many teams in a contender position had the cap space and even less would by the trade deadline. Again it's not a knock against Toffoli . Really liked him it was just identifying the next few years, and where he would fit. I still think had our cap not been in such dire straights He'd have stayed. Maybe.

 

[Andrei79]

There could definitely be some bitterness. Is he the first former agent GM in the NHL?

No, Zito in Florida and of course Lacroix being the most famous one in Colorado.

 

[Treb]

There could definitely be some bitterness. Is he the first former agent GM in the NHL?

No, Zito in Florida and of course Lacroix being the most famous one in Colorado.

Brian Burke
Dean Lombardi
Peter Chiarelli
Brian Lawton
Mike Gillis
Ray Shero

 

[JoelWarlord]

They have an uphill battle as it is with high taxes and a team in transition. Will be fun to watch.

Not for long they don't. The taxes and media stuff wasn't a problem for Gainey, and it wasn't a problem for Bergevin for the first half of his tenure. It became a problem when the team was bad and Bergevin was doing his "if you want loyalty buy a dog" speeches. There's certainly a segment of the league that will just never consider it due to taxes or media, but that's a small group and the biggest chunk of the league are players who can be convinced.

Remember back in October or November when Bergevin's response to a question about Harris was "well if he wants to sign with New York or Boston there's nothing we can do"? Well, turns out there's a lot you can do and there are now guys running the team who will do those things. I think we're going to be pleasantly surprised by how little taxes and media are going to matter for acquiring players in the next few years.

 

[Goal Caufield50]

I hope a lot of rentals do well in this playoffs. Keep the buyers with the buyers mentality that is provides a lot of value for the playoffs. This sets us up well for next deadline when we look to move Byron, Hoffman, Drouin, Dvorak, Armia.

Deadline(s) you mean. The guys have term in Hoffman, armia, and Dvorak

 

[Big Empty]

I’m grateful MB is no longer our GM and we now have competent management. It’s a weird feeling to hear our GM talk and not be ashamed of him.