Is Kent Hughes a good GM?

[dirtydanglez]

No, the mistake was not having a crystal ball and predicting he’d destroy his knee after a promising first year with the habs.

he's made of glass. that's the whole reason the hawks were ready to move on.

 

[Xirik]

Giving away kovacevic was beyond insane

yeah it was but it was to the benefit of my team so I'm happy.

 

[Fatass]

he's made of glass. that's the whole reason the hawks were ready to move on.

Is Dach one of those guys who needs to play an aggressive physical game to be an NHLer, but to play like that his body can’t hold up?

 

[Breakers]

yeah it was but it was to the benefit of my team so I'm happy.

Just insane
-He had the highest defensive point share on montreal last season (25% higher than 2nd)
- he’s 26 years old
- he costs 700k against your cap
- he’s right shot

And the GM is like yeah I value that 2027 4th round pick more

Then he is like……..
we need to find Hutson the right partner to play with

Dude WHAT?????

 

[Xirik]

Just insane
-He had the highest defensive point share on montreal last season (25% higher than 2nd)
- he’s 26 years old
- he costs 700k against your cap
- he’s right shot

And the GM is like yeah I value that 2027 4th round pick more

Then he is like……..
we need to find Hutson the right partner to play with

Dude WHAT?????

Hopefully they do the Devils another solid and trade them Evans.

 

[Frank Drebin]

Just insane
-He had the highest defensive point share on montreal last season (25% higher than 2nd)
- he’s 26 years old
- he costs 700k against your cap
- he’s right shot

And the GM is like yeah I value that 2027 4th round pick more

Then he is like……..
we need to find Hutson the right partner to play with

Dude WHAT?????

Probably expected to play rein in the nhl this year

 

[Voight]

Monahan trades were home runs

MTL did well but I wouldn't call either of them a home run, getting two first round picks out of Monahan is great but its not going to matter much if whoever they drafted using those picks ends up a bust. Receiving a first for taking on a cap dump with term on it is a pretty common transaction as is flipping a decent top 6 player for a first round pick at the deadline.

 

[thebestnic]

MTL did well but I wouldn't call either of them a home run, getting two first round picks out of Monahan is great but its not going to matter much if whoever they drafted using those picks ends up a bust. Receiving a first for taking on a cap dump with term on it is a pretty common transaction as is flipping a decent top 6 player for a first round pick at the deadline.

I disagree. They were all part of the same move. Plus he provided good play and leadership while he was here. We also know one of the player is Hage and the other looks like a top 15ish pick. Those are not some long shot 1st round picks

 

[thebestnic]

Even Pierre Dorion, one of the worst GMs ever, had a few home run trades.

A GM's measure is how good the team is/has improved.

Dach, Newhook and to a lesser extent Laine are busts. Spending assets to acquire bad players is not great.

Sure. I would agree it's too early to tell if he's a good gm or not. Doesn't take away his great or bad moves. Dach is busting because he didn't get to play a whole year. Not sure I would put that on the gm

 

[habsfan44]

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?

Do you really expect a G.M.'s team to show signs of exiting a rebuild with three drafts under his belt ?

 

[loadie]

Just insane
-He had the highest defensive point share on montreal last season (25% higher than 2nd)
- he’s 26 years old
- he costs 700k against your cap
- he’s right shot

And the GM is like yeah I value that 2027 4th round pick more

Then he is like……..
we need to find Hutson the right partner to play with

Dude WHAT?????

At points in a rebuild you have to make room for your younger players and Kovacevic was the one to go. He would be a little older than the core group and not a core piece going into the future. When the trade happened, I believe that Reinbacher was probably going to be slotted into Kovacevic’s spot. He got hurt and there went that plan. Nothing Hughes could do about it. It is what it is. If there is one thing I can fault Hughes with is his desire to really help his players go to teams that they prefer, possibly at the detriment of his own team. I’m pretty sure that Hughes is very happy to see Kovacevic doing so good with the Devils. I am too, even if it looks like a poor return for a player that had he known would be needed due to injuries would have probably been kept

 

[TS Quint]

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 there's is a lot to prove when Hughes is leaning on the Dirdctor of European scouting that lead to the picks of Lias Anderson, Kakko and Kravstov with the Rangers. Now we are waiting to see if he pulled his head out of his ass with Slaf, Reinbacher and Demidov.

 

[StreetHawk]

Just insane
-He had the highest defensive point share on montreal last season (25% higher than 2nd)
- he’s 26 years old
- he costs 700k against your cap
- he’s right shot

And the GM is like yeah I value that 2027 4th round pick more

Then he is like……..
we need to find Hutson the right partner to play with

Dude WHAT?????

I think it was more Hughes believing that all of Struble, Barron, X were ready to take a step up. Thus, adding in vets of Savard/Matheson and the youngster they believe in Guhle, they opted that the final spot would go to Hutson.

In retrospect, and even before then, it was kind of crazy to run that young/inexperienced a blueline. We are talking about 4 combined seasons for those 5 youngsters (think they combined for like 330 odd games before this season). Way too many kinds. Fine to have Hutson, but probably meant one of that trio of Struble, Barron, X needed to be in the A or moved.

 

[Stephen]

No, I don't think he has proven to be a particularly special GM at all so far.

The tear down portion of a rebuild is sort of the grocery shopping part of the process, while the competitive part is what determines how good of a chef you are.

For me, he's picked up a lot of ingredients at the market, but also made some odd choices at the draft and overpaid some big futures contracts.

None of my business, but from the distance of a division rival, it doesn't look he's cooking up a particularly special feast here.

 

[Xspyrit]

I'm a little upset with moving Kovacevic (who we got on waivers) for peanuts, seeing how good he does now, but at the time it happened it was a nothing move.

No it wasn't.

I personally have been upset at Pierre Dorion for stupidly trading Dylan DeMelo for a 3rd round pick in 2020 (when Chabot has needed a good RHD all the way) so I view this Kovacevic move a little bit similar. Moving him for a 4th was stupid IMO no matter how you slice it. And since I like to provide evidence for my claims, here you go :

- "Kovacevic one of the best waiver claims in recent years is 26 y/o" (Sept. 2023)

- "And what a nice find Kovacevic has been for the Habs, sort of like a bit like Siegenthaler for the Devils. Not as much but still pretty nice" (July 2023)

- "The guy to target on the Habs if they move him is Kovacevic" (Dec. 2023)

 

[ProfessorFink22]

As a fan of non-Montreal team, they don't particularly scare me when I picture them three years from now or anything. I don't like their future 1C, 1D combo enough, and they feel like they will rebuild right into the middle, not to be elite. But that doesn't mean much, I have faith in my team and I don't think many other fans would say they are scared of them in three years either haha.

I think Hughes' judgement comes when they are attempting to get out of the rebuild. This year ain't it, the D looks like a mess. Honest question for Canadiens fans, as I feel like maybe the media in Canada overplayed it and gave a vibe they expected to be a bit more competetive: Were you actually expecting this to be a competetive (ie - in the run for a playoff spot come spring time) team this year? If not, then when?

 

[HockeyVirus]

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

Don't forget Slafkovsky. Habs could have one of the best 1/2 centers in Cooley / Suzuki in the league. Instead they took the worse player because he was big.

 

[Kranix]

Is he even a gm?

 

[Stephen]

As a fan of non-Montreal team, they don't particularly scare me when I picture them three years from now or anything. I don't like their future 1C, 1D combo enough, and they feel like they will rebuild right into the middle, not to be elite. But that doesn't mean much, I have faith in my team and I don't think many other fans would say they are scared of them in three years either haha.

I think Hughes' judgement comes when they are attempting to get out of the rebuild. This year ain't it, the D looks like a mess. Honest question for Canadiens fans, as I feel like maybe the media in Canada overplayed it and gave a vibe they expected to be a bit more competetive: Were you actually expecting this to be a competetive (ie - in the run for a playoff spot come spring time) team this year? If not, then when?

The other thing is some of their building blocks aren't even particularly "young" on a rebuilding timetable. Nick Suzuki is 25 years old and not old by an measure, but when you might be promoting the bulk of your rebuild program over the next 2-3 years, it's going to look as disjointed as Dylan Larkin and Nate Danielson in Detroit.

 

[BoHorvat 53]

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?

Not firing MSL is the only bad thing I think he's done.

That Slafkovsky contract is actually very shrewd - the kid was almost a PPG in the 2nd half of his sophomore season.

Based off how he's handled Montreal's rebuild, I think he's one of the best in the league.

 

[Jack Spider]

I like the new hires he brought in for the staff. Lecavalier and Poulin for player development is good for high rated prospects. Created a new role on the team with Chantal Macabe ex-journalist who acts as a mom/shield between the media and our players. Cleaned up the mess on the medical staff. He’s aware and worked on every issue as far as I can tell which gives the fanbase confidence in him.

 

[JuJu Mobb]

Even Pierre Dorion, one of the worst GMs ever, had a few home run trades.

A GM's measure is how good the team is/has improved.

Dach, Newhook and to a lesser extent Laine are busts. Spending assets to acquire bad players is not great.

Do you realize Laine was given to Montreal?

Is Laine really a bad player?

I'm confused by this post.

 

[Maitz]

Don't forget Slafkovsky. Habs could have one of the best 1/2 centers in Cooley / Suzuki in the league. Instead they took the worse player because he was big.

I am ok with Slafkovsky as I think Cooley looks flashy and all but comes playoffs time those players tend to disappear. Big frame players takes more time to develop and last year in the 2nd half of the season we saw what could Slaf become comes playoffs and also that 2022 draft class really stinks

 

[Maitz]

As a fan of non-Montreal team, they don't particularly scare me when I picture them three years from now or anything. I don't like their future 1C, 1D combo enough, and they feel like they will rebuild right into the middle, not to be elite. But that doesn't mean much, I have faith in my team and I don't think many other fans would say they are scared of them in three years either haha.

I think Hughes' judgement comes when they are attempting to get out of the rebuild. This year ain't it, the D looks like a mess. Honest question for Canadiens fans, as I feel like maybe the media in Canada overplayed it and gave a vibe they expected to be a bit more competetive: Were you actually expecting this to be a competetive (ie - in the run for a playoff spot come spring time) team this year? If not, then when?

Well I think in 3 years we should see the "final project" of that rebuild and it should be Demidov, Slaf, Suzuki, Reinbacher, Fowler, Hutson, Guhle, Caufield and a top 5 2025 maybe Misa or Hagens? And you can throw in Hage, Laine and 2 other first pick in 2025-26, surrounded by good veterans I think they will have depth and good secondary scoring

 

[Bring Bak Damphousse]

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.

It was the same with Wright, guy was a consensus first for most of the year, ends up going 4th, he wasn’t even the first center taken, it’s like these hockey guys might have a bit more insider knowledge than the rest of us.