Some fans joke that he is in the best shape of any member of the Montreal Canadiens. And this despite the fact that his equipment is a suit and his game tools are a pen and a laptop.
Photo: USA TODAY Network / ddp USA / Profimedia
Juraj Slafkovský with Montreal general manager Kent Hughes.
Kent Hughes fell in love with hockey as a boy. As a left-handed winger, he appeared in university competitions, but he made a big impact in hockey only as a member of the implementation team.
When Montreal plucked him from the position of youth coach in Boston in the 2021/22 season and put him straight in the hottest seat of the general manager, many were surprised.
The fifty-seven-year-old short (175 centimeters) and bald guy immediately sent a message to disgruntled and passionate Canadiens fans:
“I am ready for the challenge of life. It won’t be easy, but I believe that we will bring Montreal back to the higher ranks.”
The end of the days of big cities
Salary caps in the NHL started almost 20 years ago. Already from the first season in 2005/06, they caused teams to appear on the highest ranks, which were absent for many years or did not appear at the top even once.
Buying the best players without restrictions is gone. The conceptual work wins. The one who puts together a quality squad just before the playoffs.
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And later, the one who prefers to sacrifice a few seasons in order to build a team from quality draft picks, which in a few years will start making music.
Colorado is an ideal example of long-distance running. In 1995, the Avalanche were replaced in the NHL by the Québec Nordiques.
They won the Stanley Cup in their first year, and then in 2000/01. There was no shortage of money in Denver, so there was no shortage of quality either.
However, due to the budget ceiling, they waited exactly twenty years for the next Stanley Cup – they triumphed in the 2020/21 year. It took them that long to rebuild an over-aged and low-quality team into a winning team.
It started with Slafkovský and Mešár
Hughes is trying something similar in Montreal, one of the weakest teams in recent years. In the 2022 NHL Draft, he selected Juraj Slafkovský from the 1st place and Filip Mešár from the 26th position in the first round.
In addition, they also drafted twice in the second round and twice in the third. Owen Beck and Lane Hutson came.
Last year, Montreal selected in the first round and pointed to the Austrian David Reinbacher from the 5th place. A few days ago, Hughes cleverly secured two picks in the first round of the 2024 NHL Draft.
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How did he do it?
His move with Sean Monahan has raised many eyebrows in the NHL, and experts suggest that he is well on his way to building a dynasty in Montreal…
In the current season, the teams played approximately 50 matches, each of them will play 82 matches by the end of the regular season. So they all continue to have a chance for the playoffs.
However, general managers in the NHL are already working hard to strengthen the team before the elimination phase and go as far as possible.
He scored twice on Monahan
The same goes for Winnipeg. The Jets sought an experienced center for the first two offenses, ideally also on the power play.
Hughes offered Monahan. He scored 13 goals and added 22 assists in 49 games for Montreal.
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The Canadiens lost their third most productive player – Slafkovský is fifth with a record of 7+13. Twenty-nine-year-old Monahan, however, coach Martin St. Louis found it more difficult to find a place in the lineup.
In addition, Hughes got rid of his almost two million salary and also an expiring player who could leave for free.
Doesn’t that sound tempting? It will be when we add to the whole puzzle the fact that Hughes took from the Calgary Flames in the 2022/23 season and also received a selection in the 1st round of the draft.
17 months later, he received another first-round pick to move him to Winnipeg before the playoffs.
The Jets needed a player, so they made an agreement with the gray eminence of Montreal. So Monahan is moving again.
And Montreal counts first-round picks…
2024-02-05 20:09:00
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