Breadcrumb Path Hyperlinks
SportsHockeyNHLHockey Inside OutMontreal Canadiens
Whether or not you say it in English or in French, it is the important thing to a profitable rebuild and Habs GM Kent Hughes has achieved an impressive job to date.
Article content material
There was a humorous second throughout Tony Marinaro’s interview with Canadiens GM Kent Hughes Tuesday on Marinaro’s new Le Discussion board present on the French radio station BPM Sports activities.
It was Marinaro’s second day on his new job after leaving the English TSN 690 station two years in the past to deal with The Sick Podcast With Tony Marinaro, which he continues to work on. Marinaro and Hughes each communicate excellent French, however neither of them knew methods to translate “asset accumulation,” which had them each chuckling together with the BPM Sports activities on-air producers.
Commercial 2
Article content material
The direct Google translation is “accumulation d’actifs.”
Whether or not you say it in English or French, asset accumulation is paramount to success when rebuilding a crew within the salary-capped NHL and Hughes and Jeff Gorton, the manager vice-president of hockey operations, have achieved an impressive job with that since being put in command of the Canadiens lower than three years in the past.
Hughes famous that there’s a stability in rebuilding a crew and that it’s not achieved in a month or in a 12 months. Hughes famous that he and Gorton are two-and-a-half years into the rebuild and so they haven’t bought the place they need to be but. Hughes stated that asset accumulation was a key — particularly initially of the rebuild.
Hughes stated the Canadiens have now reached a brand new section the place they’ll take into consideration what they’ve and what they want transferring ahead.
What they want most transferring ahead is extra goal-scoring forwards and that’s why Hughes acquired Patrik Laine from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Aug. 19. However that commerce was one other instance of asset accumulation — or accumulation d’actifs.
We apologize, however this video has didn’t load.
Play Video
Highway to the Cup
Article content material
Commercial 3
Article content material
As a lot as I like defenceman Jordan Harris — each as a hockey participant and as one of many nicest younger males I’ve ever met — the Canadiens in all probability didn’t have a spot for him on their blue line this season with Lane Hutson and Logan Mailloux each wanting able to make the leap to the NHL. The Canadiens may even have to finally make room for defenceman David Reinbacher, the No. 5 total decide ultimately 12 months’s NHL Draft who will in all probability play for the AHL’s Laval Rocket this season. That’s additionally why Hughes traded Johnathan Kovacevic to the New Jersey Devils on June 30 in trade for a fourth-round decide on the 2026 NHL Draft.
A Harris for Laine commerce — one-for-one — would have been a superb deal for the Canadiens, who’re hoping the Finnish ahead can regain the shape that noticed him have back-to-back seasons of 44 and 30 targets for the Winnipeg Jets again in 2017-18 and 2018-19. Laine additionally averaged virtually a degree per sport with the Blue Jackets over the course of the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons with 48-60-108 totals in 111 video games. Final season, Laine was restricted to 6-3-9 totals in 18 video games earlier than struggling a damaged left clavicle throughout a sport in mid-December that required surgical procedure, and he then entered the NHL/NHLPA participant help program in January whereas coping with mental-health points.
Commercial 4
Article content material
Hughes’s potential to handle the wage cap — one other key to rebuilding — is a giant motive why he was capable of purchase Laine for the reason that Canadiens had been the one crew focused on him who had been capable of tackle his total contract with an $8.7-million cap hit for the subsequent two seasons. That’s in all probability why Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell was additionally keen to surrender a second-round decide on the 2026 NHL Draft as a part of the deal.
The Canadiens now maintain two first-round picks, two second-round picks and three third-round picks for subsequent 12 months’s draft and one first-round decide and two second-round picks in 2026.
Within the three NHL Drafts since Hughes turned GM the Canadiens have had 30 picks. That features 5 picks within the first spherical (Ivan Demidov and Michael Hage in 2024, Reinbacher in 2023, and Juraj Slafkovsky and Filip Mesar in 2022), two within the second spherical (Owen Beck and Hutson in 2022) and 5 within the third spherical (Aatos Koivu and Logan Sawyer in 2024, goalie Jacob Fowler in 2023, and Vinzenz Rohrer and Adam Engstrom in 2022).
The NHL Draft generally is a crapshoot, however the extra picks you will have — particularly within the first three rounds — the higher the probabilities of bettering your crew. Hughes was capable of get two first-round picks in two trades he made involving Sean Monahan — one at subsequent 12 months’s draft and one he used this 12 months as a part of a commerce with the Los Angeles Kings to maneuver up from No. 26 to No. 21 to get Hage, a participant the Canadiens actually coveted. Hughes additionally acquired the first-round decide used to pick Mesar when he traded Tyler Toffoli to the Calgary Flames.
Commercial 5
Article content material
The Canadiens had been capable of draft Hutson with the second-round decide (62nd total) Hughes acquired from the Edmonton Oilers when he traded Brett Kulak.
Hughes instructed Marinaro Canadiens administration hasn’t set a aim that they completely need to make the playoffs this season, however they did discuss “being within the combine.”
“Administration’s goal was to enhance the offence,” Hughes stated. “We’re actually proud of the draft, we’re comfortable that we added Patrik Laine, however we’re removed from ending our work.”
scowan@postmedia.com
x.com/StuCowan1
Advisable from Editorial
Canadiens prospect Ivan Demidov wows in Russian exhibition sport
Canadiens goalie prospect Jacob Fowler impresses Scotty Bowman
Patrik Laine hopes to be greater than a 30-goal scorer with Canadiens
Stu Cowan: Buying Patrik Laine is a low-risk transfer by Canadiens’ GM
Commercial 6
Article content material
Article content material
Share this text in your social community
