Jeff Gorton, the Canadiens’ president of hockey operations, and general manager Kent Hughes live in the same condo building in downtown Montreal.
Every time Gorton and Hughes cross paths in the building, the GM is on his phone. Hughes said he waves to Gorton, who just shakes his head.
So, for Canadiens fans who might have been frustrated Wednesday that Hughes didn’t make any significant moves on the first day of free agency, he asks that they stay patient as he continues to work the phone to see if there’s a deal that makes sense to improve the team for next season.
“I do not feel like it’s today, tomorrow, or any specific day,” Hughes said about any potential trade when he met with the media Wednesday afternoon in Brossard. “We’re going to make this team better. I have no concerns about that, and I can’t tell you when it is. I’ll know when it is … I’ll know when the deal is right and we have a dance partner. But we won’t do a dumb trade or a dumb move that you might kind of appease the passionate fan base on a short-term basis and then a year later, like: ‘What the hell did they just get us into?’
“So, we hope that we have their patience to trust that we’re going to continue to push this thing forward,” Hughes added. “We’re not trying to save money. We are not trying to do anything other than make the right picks.”
Hughes did make one major move on Wednesday, signing 20-year-old Russian forward Ivan Demidov to an eight-year, US$73.2-million contract extension that will kick in for the 2027-28 season with an annual salary-cap hit of US$9.15 million. Demidov led all NHL rookies in scoring this season with 19-43-62 totals while playing in all 82 games.
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This marks the third straight year Hughes has locked up one of the young stars he drafted with a long-term deal that looks very team-friendly as the NHL salary cap is expected to jump from US$104 million in 2026-27 to US$123 million by 2028-29. Hughes signed Juraj Slafkovsky to an eight-year, US$60.8-million contract on July 1, 2024, that has an annual salary-cap hit of US$7.6 million. Last October, Hughes signed Lane Hutson to an eight-year, US$60.8-million contract with an annual salary-cap hit of US$8.85 million.
Hughes said he wants to reward the players he has already signed by making a deal to improve the Canadiens next season after advancing to the Eastern Conference final this year.
“I wanted to do that,” Hughes said. “Making sure we do that requires a little bit of prudence, a little bit of patience, instead of just chasing it. But if I had my druthers, we did it yesterday. But I also recognize that we also have very, very talented, good hockey players that are in our system that are coming. They’re not that far away from being really good National Hockey League players, too.
“There could be a trade in September or October,” Hughes added. “I would like to reward what they’ve done for this team by giving them the best chance to win. And the sooner the better, as long as that’s what we’re doing — giving them a better chance to win. I don’t want to do something that turns out to actually serve as an impediment to that objective because I thought I was helping them.”
It’s a pretty safe bet that the next time Gorton sees Hughes in their condo building, he will be on the phone.