Montreal Canadiens: Kent Hughes’ mid-season press conference

At the halfway point of the season, Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes met with the media to discuss the first half and the expectations for the rest of the year.

The Canadiens fell out of a playoff spot on Tuesday night, but they are firmly “in the mix” which was the stated goal at the start of the season.

The trip to Russia to see Ivan Demidov was front and centre.

Kent Hughes says the goal of the trip to Russia was to see Ivan Demidov play in person to see where he was in his play and to meet up with him.
— Jared Book (@jaredbook) January 8, 2025

He also rules out the fact that Demidov will come over before the end of the current season.
— Jared Book (@jaredbook) January 8, 2025

Kent Hughes says he and his Canadiens colleagues weren’t the only NHL execs present in Russia when they were there.
— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) January 8, 2025

"We have not accomplished anything yet." – Kent Hughes on whether the current run has changed plans for the rest of the season.

Says the long-term vision is still on track.
— Jared Book (@jaredbook) January 8, 2025

"We don't want to be overconfident," says Kent Hughes citing Buffalo and Detroit's early-season setbacks after taking a step forward towards the playoffs.
— Jared Book (@jaredbook) January 8, 2025

Kent Hughes says his goal is to build a team that can compete every season.

« Le plan c'est de construire une équipe qui va compétitionner pour le championnat à chaque année. »

– Kent Hughes
— RDS (@RDSca) January 8, 2025

Juraj Slafkovský’s development has had ups and downs this season, which is to be expected.

"I think Juraj Slafkovský is able to do more, and I think he knows it. There will be ups and downs. Development isn't linear." – Kent Hughes
— Jared Book (@jaredbook) January 8, 2025

Kent Hughes says one of the reasons there wasn't a coach added when Alex Burrows stepped down was that Martin St-Louis wanted to run the power play and to see whether he needed anything before making a decision.
— Jared Book (@jaredbook) January 8, 2025

"We wanted to be 'in the mix' in terms of getting to the point we want to get there, players need to experience things. We want players to be under the pressure to win the games they need to win. Whether they succeed or not, the process is the important part." – Kent Hughes
— Jared Book (@jaredbook) January 8, 2025

"Long term, we're not worried" – Kent Hughes on David Reinbacher.

Short-term, cites Kirby Dach as showing the challenges of a player missing time, and the work it takes to get back to where they were. Says Dach is working hard to turn the page.
— Jared Book (@jaredbook) January 8, 2025

Kent Hughes says the Alex Carrier trade was filling a need that they had internally.

Says Cayden Primeau didn't have the start he wanted and the move was made to regain Primeau's confidence and not run Montembeault into the ground.
— Jared Book (@jaredbook) January 8, 2025

Highlights and quotes from Kent Hughes at his mid-season press conference

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