Once again, Kent Hughes has won his prize

[content-ads]Trading a staggering contract like Price’s often comes with a pretty hefty price tag. Consider the Flames’ gift of Sean Monahan in addition to a first-round pick, and based on this tweet, we understand that trading Price’s contract would have technically required a second-round pick…

Another stroke of genius from KH.

Continuing to talk about Hughes’ patience and the acquisitions/signings he’s made at a good price since arriving in Montreal, we can of course think of Jake Evans. The rumours went on for quite some time in his case, and the GM was very patient and managed to get a good price for his centreman.The text below talks about some of the good moves made by the Habs GM, and one wonders whether Hughes could be one of the organization’s best GMs in a long time.

In this text , we also talk about Noah Dobson. Although his contract extension didn’t call for patience, he was able to negotiate a lower salary for his new defenseman. We’re reminded that Dobson was asking no less than $11M per season from the Islanders and would accept $10M per year if he became a member of the Habs. In the end, it turned out to be $9.5 M per season. This may seem high, but the most important aspect to remember is the increase in the salary cap. Considering that the 2026-27 season could see a payroll of over $104 M, the percentage of his salary will obviously be much smaller. Compared to Suzuki’s, and at the time of his signing, the percentage of the payroll he’ll occupy will be quite low.

We can also mention the acquisition of Patrik Laine, who arrived in Montreal, along with a second-round pick for Jordan Harris, who no longer belonged in Montreal. Obviously, his high salary is quite important in the equation, but he was able to propel the powerplay to its best and clearly helped the club make the playoffs. The same cannot be said for Jordan Harris and what he could have done in Montreal last year. What’s more, the Habs could afford to take on Laine’s salary ($8.7 million per season) for two campaigns. In short, I think we can come to a consensus: Kent Hughes is certainly one of the best Habs GMs in a long time, probably since Serge Savard. [spacer title=’Overtime’] – A big thank you to this Habs (and Rocket) legend.

– Don’t expect it to settle in the time it takes to say it.

– Incredible.

– Indeed.

– Good contract-bridge on both sides.

– All’s well that ends well.