Three years since his hiring: Kent Hughes has never tried to accelerate the rebuilding.

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 other members of the Canadiens’ upper management to hire a former player agent who was at the tail end of his career.

However, here we are three years later, and let’s say that no one regrets this hiring or holds it against Gorton and company.

Kent Hughes took over a team that was at its lowest 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 mix for the playoffs.

In three years, Hughes has managed to implement a solid rebuild (which is not finished obviously) without cutting corners.

And this is where the GM of the Canadiens really excelled, in what he did not do, which is to try to speed up the rebuild.

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Several general managers have attempted in recent years to move faster and rebuild a competitive team quicker than expected, and often, well, they have failed.

Indeed, we think among others 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 the rebuilding plan, and this harmed them significantly.

That’s why, until now, we can be very grateful to Kent Hughes for not taking unnecessary risks that would have hurried the pace of the rebuild for nothing.

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 assets or signing big free agents too soon.

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Currently, as the team is 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 further improve.

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

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

But in the end, no GM can be perfect, and until now, Hughes has managed to brilliantly navigate the Canadiens’ rebuild by being patient with his rational plan.

Very few, if any, fans of the Tricolore are currently not excited about the end of this season and the next seasons.

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

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

In Brief

– Happy birthday Kaiden!

– To follow up with the Canadiens today.

– Sidney Crosby was really happy for his goalie.

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

– Indeed.