Kent Hughes finally responds to rumor linking Lane Hutson's brother to the Canadiens

A few months ago, during the 2024 National Hockey League Draft, numerous rumors linked Cole Hutson to the Montreal Canadiens.

After all, predictions placed Lane Hutson's younger brother being selected somewhere between the 20th and 35th picks, with many mock drafts sending him to the Montreal Canadiens.

In a recent interview, Kent Hughes addressed this rumor and gave his final verdict on the matter.

Kent Hughes gives his answer on whether he almost drafted Cole Hutson, Lane Hutson's younger brother

It would have been a good choice, but the Canadiens decided to go in another direction, and Hughes didn't even consider bringing the two brothers together in Montreal.

Hughes discussed the matter in an interview with Frank Seravalli.

The GM explained that the fact that Cole Hutson is another smaller-sized defenseman, and another left-handed shot on top of that, were two factors that led him to move him down the Canadiens' draft board.

"We had him rated higher than he went, too, if I remember correctly. But I think, you know, it's one thing to have, first of all, we, you, got a size factor combined with a left-shot factor for us.

"We've got other puck-moving D in our, uh, pool. You know, the Engstrom kid in Laval is a real good puck-moving defenseman, so I think there's a lot of different factors that come into play, um, but, no, we wouldn't have taken him earlier than, uh, than with one of our two picks. Understood," Hughes added.