Quotes and highlights from Kent Hughes’ mid-season review

Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes met with the media on Monday for his annual mid-season review. The Canadiens have 17-8-7 record this season, sixth in the Atlantic Division and seventh in the Wild Card standings.

The Canadiens play the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night at the Bell Centre, which will be their 43rd game of the season. With the trade deadline approaching, that will likely be one of the topics of conversations.

The first topic of conversation was the progression of Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield.

"We see a progression from Nick in his complete game, even more defensively. The points are there, but we see he's becoming a 200-foot player. I'm very happy." – Kent Hughes
— Jared Book (@jaredbook) January 15, 2024

"Cole is a scorer, he's scoring more than he did since Martin was here. Cole's shooting percentage is at 7%, last year was at 16%. Among all players with 11-12 goals, he's 112th in efficiency." – Kent Hughes
— Jared Book (@jaredbook) January 15, 2024

"The biggest disappointment is the injuries, but we're seeing a progression of our game at five-on-five." – Kent Hughes
— Jared Book (@jaredbook) January 15, 2024

Hughes says that the special teams continue to improve but they need to be more consistent.

« Nos unités spéciales doivent continuer de s’améliorer, on voit de la progression, mais on veut de la constance! »

– Kent Hughes
— RDS (@RDSca) January 15, 2024

Kent Hughes says it was his decision to keep three goalies. Says the organization wasn't ready to put Cayden Primeau on waivers because they thought he would be claimed.

Says it's not 100% that they will make a trade of a goalie.
— Jared Book (@jaredbook) January 15, 2024

"I won't use the words worrisome or disappointing but you want you see your scorers score. What I don't want is that Cole plays differently because he feels pressure. We want Cole to be Cole." – Kent Hughes on Cole Caufield
— Jared Book (@jaredbook) January 15, 2024

Kent Hughes was asked about Jean-François Houle’s work with the Laval Rocket as his contract expires at the end of the season.

"He's done a great job" – Kent Hughes on JF Houle and the work of the Laval Rocket coaching staff. Mentions Arber Xhekaj, Logan Mailloux have seen improvements.

"They live our injuries and their injuries."
— Jared Book (@jaredbook) January 15, 2024

Kent Hughes says that they are monitoring the depth on the left side of the defence, but aren’t in an urgent need to make a move.

« On ne sent pas l'urgence d'effectuer une transaction de l'un de nos défenseurs gauchers. Mais si la bonne offre se présente, on va l'évaluer. »

– Kent Hughes
— RDS (@RDSca) January 15, 2024

#Habs GM Kent Hughes on if there's urgency to trade from the young D corps to address other areas of need: "where we have chances to rebalance the ledger so-to-speak, we'll pursue them. Do I feel like we have a gun to our head to do that right now? No, not at all."
— Priyanta Emrith (@HabsInHighHeels) January 15, 2024

"There was a lot of talk about Shane Wright because we heard his name for years, same with Michkov. In 2022, our first three picks were forwards, not defenders" – Kent Hughes
— Jared Book (@jaredbook) January 15, 2024

#Habs GM Kent Hughes when asked if Sean Monahan could receive a contract extension with the #GoHabsGo said "anything is possible."
— Priyanta Emrith (@HabsInHighHeels) January 15, 2024

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