Montreal Canadiens: Kent Hughes Looking to Add Another 1st Round Pick

The Montreal Canadiens have been performing above expectations so far this season. While they were expected to be near the bottom of the standings, they are much closer to the playoff picture than most anticipated.

Of course, we are just a quarter of the way into the season and the Habs record of 11-9-1 has them on pace for 90 points. They would have to be even better in the final three quarters of the season to really jump into the playoff race down the stretch of the season.

Many are still predicting this team to finish well outside the playoffs. The grind of a long 82 game season will likely catch up to the young defenders who have not been exposed to anything like an NHL schedule in the past.

It sounds like Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes has not changed his focus for the organization based on their play so far this season. He clearly stated a long-term goal when he took over the job, and that plan isn’t changing because the team is close to the playoff pack early in the season.

Hughes was interviewed by Anthony Martineau of TVA Sports and he made it clear the focus was still on building for the future. In fact, Hughes said that the team is currently looking to add another first round pick before the 2023 NHL Draft.

The Canadiens already have two picks in the first round of the next NHL Draft. They added one from the Florida Panthers last season in a trade that sent Ben Chiarot south. That pick is far more intriguing today that it was months ago as the Panthers, last year’s President’s Trophy winner, are struggling this season and are tied with the Habs in the standings right now.

A third pick in the first round may be more difficult to acquire. The Canadiens don’t have a lot of veteran talent that they would want to part with that has that kind of trade value. Maybe Sean Monahan if he continues to perform and is on pace for 25 goals and 55-60 points at the trade deadline.

Another team might be interested in Joel Edmundson who is not a pending free agent, but has one more season left on his contract after this one. He is a similar player to Chiarot and a defensive minute-muncher is coveted at the deadline. His cap his if $3.5 million and if the Habs were willing to eat about $1 million of that they may find a team that gives up what they expect to be a very late first.

Other than that, I don’t see a lot of “first round pick” value on the Habs roster. Jonathan Drouin and Evgenii Dadonov are obvious trade candidates because they will be UFAs at season’s end. But they aren’t performing at a level that will bring much, if anything, in return.

Josh Anderson is a possibility, but he has a contract that will scare away a lot of teams. So do Brendan Gallagher, Joel Armia and Mike Hoffman.

It will be interesting to see if Hughes is able to land another first round pick. At the very least, it is great news that he isn’t wavering from his stand that he is building this team with a long term approach.

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