Is Kent Hughes a good GM?

[Cloned]

He’s made some very shrewd trades like the Monahan deals.

He’s also done some stuff that is questionable right now, like hiring MSL and the Slav contract.

And the Habs show no real sign of exiting their rebuild yet.

Is he a good GM?

Click to read more...

 

[NyQuil]

Not picking Michkov was a choice.

He was a perfect player for that market.

 

[JianYang]

Seems like a premature question. I don't even think he's been on board for 3 years yet, and the plan was never going to be this short.

All I can say is that his moves have been pretty consistent with the long term vision which is more than you can say about the regime he replaced.

 

[HabzSauce]

He's not perfect but yes I think he's a good GM. He's mostly had to tear down the mess that Berg left.....and yes I know Berg did leave us with good pieces in Xhekaj, Caufield, Suzuki, etc etc. but lots of tear down which I think he's handled very well so far.

I think player evaluations is maybe where he falls short. Traded for newhook, Barron, Dach. I hope he's learning what kind of players not to trade for

I appreciate his creativity and cap management the most. Outside the box thinker, good to his players, the development and drafting looks a lot healthier than under previous regimes - all good stuff.

Now I want to see how he does when expectations are higher (ala next summer). We have all the assets in the world to wheel and deal but he has to nail those moves.

 

[JianYang]

Not picking Michkov was a choice.

He was a perfect player for that market.

Michkov is an interesting one. I saw a quote from Andrei Nikolishin who was with the caps during that draft (maybe he's still there) and he mentioned that he's never seen someone as disrespectful as michkov during that process.

Then you look at how he was ranked as the 2nd best player in the draft who dropped to #7, and Friedman's comments about him leveraging his situation, it all adds up where you have at least ask questions about there being more to the decision than the traditional projections.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Are we comparing him to former habs , because that's the easiest win in Kents life.


I'm just glad we actually had the balls to rebuild instead of spinning our wheels for 20 years getting carried by goalies to a 8th spot playoff

And the Habs show no real sign of exiting their rebuild yet.

A 3 year rebuild is pretty lofty expectations for any organisation , it's never been done before

 

[River Meadow]

Newhook for a 1st and 2nd round draft pick.

Lehkonen for Barron.

Romanov for Dach (basically) is debatable right now, but Dach is looking bad after his knee was torn to shreds.

Reinbacher instead of Michkov, or Leonard, etc, etc.

Signing Slafkovsky to a big contract after he had half a good season.


Lots of question marks.

 

[Xirik]

he's slightly above average and that's pretty good in a league full of GM's who usually harm their team more then help it.


probably around the 10th to 15th best GM?

 

[Maitz]

Yes because he sticks to the plan with the rebuild and doesn't sell future assets for help now. The only moves I question is the trade for Newhook, selection of Mesar and Reinbacher, other than that I like what he has done

 

[Shane Diesel]

Newhook for a 1st and 2nd round draft pick.

Lehkonen for Barron.

Montreal has been good to the Avs over the years. I hope the two organizations keep making deals.

 

[dirtydanglez]

average.

his shortcuts to the rebuild, newhook and dach, haven't worked but the laine trade has worked out well. contracts have been fair. drafting has been ok.

 

[Prairie Habs]

average.

his shortcuts to the rebuild, newhook and dach, haven't worked but the laine trade has worked out well. contracts have been fair. drafting has been ok.

It's funny how often people refer to the dach trade as a "shortcut" to the rebuild or something similar. He traded 22 year old Romanov for 21 year old dach, how is that some sort of win now move?

 

[olli]

won’t know for a few year since he basically started from scratch but not picking Michkov will probably end up being a massive fumble.

 

[BLNY]

Not picking Michkov was a choice.

He was a perfect player for that market.

I don't see any other club get the flack that Montreal gets for not having taken him. Five other teams passed on him. Bedard was the consensus #1, leaving 4. One team passing on him is a head scratcher. 4 teams passing on him? That makes me wish I was a fly on the wall of the interviews.

 

[dgibb10]

I don't see any other club get the flack that Montreal gets for not having taken him. Five other teams passed on him. Bedard was the consensus #1, leaving 4. One team passing on him is a head scratcher. 4 teams passing on him? That makes me wish I was a fly on the wall of the interviews.

Fantilli and Carlsson were also ridiculously high level prospects

 

[BLNY]

Fantilli and Carlsson were also ridiculously high level prospects

Sure, but Michkov was still #2.

None of us were in the interview rooms. Clearly teams had a reason beyond the fear of him not coming over.

I'm more than fine with Reinbacher and Demidov.

 

[dgibb10]

Sure, but Michkov was still #2.

None of us were in the interview rooms. Clearly teams had a reason beyond the fear of him not coming over.

I'm more than fine with Reinbacher and Demidov.

I think it comes down to:

Center
Center
Center
Center
Dman
Dman
Winger (Michkov)

 

[StreetHawk]

Real evaluation for any GM of a bad team is how they go about turning about the fortunes of the team. Easy part is to trade away the likes of Monahan. But, it's the taking shots with Newhook/Dach (where he's trying to build the team up) that are the hard moves to make.

Some hits and misses. Dach trade was a fair swing. If he could stay health as a big body 2C at 60 odd points, that would have been a great get. Newhook, didn't think they needed to give up 2 picks in the 30's for at best an average sized winger who had stagnated.

Biggest criticism is not adding veterans to help the young D. Bet too much on all of Barron, X, Struble to take a step. Savard/Matheson, not cutting it as the veteran D presence. Need big upgrades in the off-season.

Longer it takes to turn the ship around, just eating more into the 8 year max deals of Suzuki and Caulfield. Year 3 and 2 of their long term deals this season. Going to end up like Ott with Chabot in year 5 and Tkachuck in year 4 of their max term deal before they make it. Then you have to decide whether to commit max term again when they are 30 or something.

 

[dirtydanglez]

It's funny how often people refer to the dach trade as a "shortcut" to the rebuild or something similar. He traded 22 year old Romanov for 21 year old dach, how is that some sort of win now move?

no he traded the 13th pick and the 66th pick in 2022 for dach.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

I don’t really get what he’s trying to build, just seems like he wants to win trade negotiations by acquiring distressed assets for cheap and either pumping them up for a dump or turning them into something they aren’t (Dach/Newhook).

 

[HabzSauce]

no he traded the 13th pick and the 66th pick in 2022 for dach.

And how did he get 13th? It was Romanov.

 

[majormajor]

A lot of GMs come in for rebuilds and look good until they pivot to trying to win. The marketing stops working at that point.

Hughes' moves are a mixed bag at this point but we won't have a real evaluation until the team tries to win.

 

[dirtydanglez]

And how did he get 13th? It was Romanov.

yes, but in the end they had the 13th and 66th and traded it. could have built though the draft instead.

 

[HabzSauce]

yes, but in the end they had the 13th and 66th and traded it. could have built though the draft instead.

They had that pick for all of what 5 mins?

The whole point of making that trade was to immediately flip it for Dach.

 

[dirtydanglez]

They had that pick for all of what 5 mins?

The whole point of making that trade was to immediately flip it for Dach.

could have used it draft a good player. nazar is having a great rookie season in the ahl, 24pts in 21 games.