With the passing of the NHL trade deadline, it marked the second deadline that the Kent Hughes-Jeff Gorton “HuGo” tandem has gone through. The rumours were swirling, big trades were happening, but our Habs remained low key quiet throughout. The only significant trade ended up being trading veteran forward Evgenii Dadonov to the Dallas Stars for fellow Russian mate and former first round pick, Denis Gurianov. For the second straight season, the Canadiens sit dead last in the Atlantic Division and all but are assured to miss the playoffs. That should come to no surprise, as whether we, the fans, have accepted or not, our Habs are rebuilding. The core is there, with Suzuki, Caufield, Dach, Slafkovský and Guhle all under the age of 25, it is not a complete tear it down, blow it up scenario like in Chicago or San Jose. So how has the rebuild fared? We look back at the impactful moves that the HuGo tandem has made since taking over.
1. Drafting Juraj Slafkovský – The “pick”, probably the decision that will be forever linked to Kent Hughes’ and Jeff Gorton’s tenure in Montreal. Surprising, controversial, you name it, drafting Slafkovský was a shock to many Habs fans. I was in attendance at the draft last summer, and the shockwaves of gasps and boos were heard all around the Bell Centre when the selection was announced. Props to fans later on when we cheered for Slafkovský while he was making his rounds, but I, like the majority of fans at the arena that night was expecting the Habs to draft Shane Wright. So how did Slafkovský’s first year in the NHL go? If I’m being honest, average at best. Yes, he is only 18, he is young and still has a bright future ahead of him, but with only playing 39 games before a season ending injury, racking up 4 goals and 6 assists, it was a far cry from what we’ve been used to from former first overall picks. It is too early to determine how this pick will turn out. Grade: C/TBD
2. Trading For Kirby Dach – The second shockwave of the night happened moments later on draft night when a trade was announced. The Canadiens had acquired a first round pick that night from the New York Islanders for fan favourite, hard-hitting defenseman, Alexander Romanov. The Habs, however, would immediately flip that pick over to the Chicago Blackhawks for former 3rd overall pick, Kirby Dach. In Dach, who had a rough start to his NHL career with the Hawks, Hughes was hoping to land that big centre that had evaded the Habs and Marc Bergevin for the past decade. Although the majority of his points this season was while playing on the wing alongside Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, Dach has been slowly groomed back into his natural centre position before his injury. Tailing his best season to date, Dach, before being hampered with injuries, scored 12 goals with 23 assists in 54 games. Romanov has been solid for the Islanders, but with the emergence of Kaiden Guhle, Jordan Harris, Arber Xhekaj and Justin Barron, the Habs were able trade from a position of strength for a position of most importance in the league. Grade: A
3. Hiring of Martin St. Louis – Hiring Martin St. Louis in the middle of last season, after letting go of Dominique Ducharme, has been another of HuGo’s successful out of the box decisions. St. Louis, the former Tampa Bay Lightning, was a midget level coach with no prior NHL head coaching experience. Experienced be damned, but his impact has been noticeable in the development of the Habs’ young core. All one needs to look at is the turn around of Cole Caufield, struggling under Ducharme to thriving with St. Louis. St. Louis’ idea of “concepts” has been beneficial to the young D that played throughout the season, the emergence of Kirby Dach, and the improvements from call-ups from Laval, including Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Justin Barron. It is true, that in today’s game, coaches come and go, and St. Louis may not be behind the bench when the Habs are competitive in a couple of years, but his impact will be there. Grade: B+
4. Trading For Mike Matheson – When Kent Hughes traded Jeff Petry and Ryan Poehling last summer to the Pittsburgh Penguins, many fans were unsure of what the Habs were getting back in Mike Matheson. Another former first round draft pick by the Florida Panthers, Matheson was plagued with injuries to start of the season. However, since the Christmas break, Matheson, a Montreal native, has been no doubt the Habs’ best defenseman. His slick and smooth skating, his transition game from defense to offense, his style of play mimics that of the aging Jeff Petry, who he was traded for. In 36 games this season, Matheson has 7 goals and 16 assists. What is also a bonus for Matheson, who is only 29 years of age, is that the Habs have him locked up, at a team-friendly contract of $4.875M, until the end of the 2025-26 season. To say Hughes was able to obtained the younger player with the same offensive output and who actually wants to stay and play in Montreal. Grade: A-
Two years into the rebuild, big decisions have been made by the new management group. How do you feel about the rebuilding? Are there other moves, a la getting multiple first round picks for Ben Chiarot, Tyler Toffoli, and Sean Monahan, more significant? Are we on the right track to start being competitive for a playoff spots next year? Or is the rebuild going no where and the Habs are stuck in rebuilding quagmire.
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