Which Former Client Will Montreal Canadiens General Manager Kent Hughes Acquire Next?
Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes has been on the job for just over two years.
The team was in a freefall when he was added to the managerial team and he has begun to tinker and retool enough that the nose of the plane is pointing upward once again. There is still going to be some time before it can climb to any sort of heights worth phoning home about, but it is heading in the right direction.
The question is what moves will he pull off in order to continue trending in the right direction. Sometimes when you look at past decisions, you can start to see consistencies and predict what a general manager will do next. Or, at the very least, understand what kind of player they will look to acquire.
Kind of like knowing Marc Bergevin was going to trade for a depth defenseman who scored about two goals per year, no matter how many of them he already had on the roster. From Davis Drewiske to Jon Merrill, there was no shortage of defensive defensemen joining the Canadiens when Bergevin was calling the shots.
It really should not have surprised anyone that he signed Karl Alzner to a monster contract.
What type of player does Kent Hughes like to acquire? Well, it has only been two years but a couple of things are starting to become clear. He likes to target young players instead of draft picks, like we saw with the Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook trades.
He also likes to bring in people he is familiar with already. Hughes was a prominent agent in the hockey world before taking over as the Canadiens general manager and Newhook was one of his clients. So was Mike Matheson and those two players were featured in two of Hughes biggest trades so far.
Colin White was also a client of Hughes and he was just claimed off waivers by the Canadiens yesterday. Hughes also spoke about his familiarity with Martin St. Louis when he named him the team's head coach. The pair have children close to the same age that both grew up in eastern United States and played together frequently.
Hughes and St. Louis often watched them together, and of course chatted about the game of hockey and commented on how they would run things if they were in charge, like every other fan in the building.
So, with familiarity being important to Hughes, and keeping that in mind, who could he target next?
Anthony Beauvillier
Hughes had 18 clients when he left the agency world to become the Canadiens general manager. He did such a good job negotiating contracts for a few of them, like Darnell Nurse, that not even he would trade for the contract he signed his name to now that he is on the other side of the table.
That isn't the type of player the Canadiens will be looking for anyway. They are more likely to be looking for some depth options that are kind of placeholders for young forwards. It is possible Owen Beck and Joshua Roy and Sean Farrell are all NHL ready next season. But the Canadiens can't assume any of them will be so they need some NHL ready players to play if the kids aren't quite ready.
Anthony Beauvillier would add some depth to the bottom six for sure. He was recently traded from the Vancouver Canucks, where he never really fit, to the Chicago Blackhawks where he has scored six points in 17 games. That is not a ton of production, but he remains a smart two-way player that can put up better numbers in the right situation.
He certainly won't get the $4.15 million cap hit that Hughes negotiated for him three years ago, but a million dollars for one year to add some depth would be a nice addition. The fact he is from the province of Quebec is a nice little bonus and if he starts to find his offense like he showed with the New York Islanders, he could move up the lineup.
Zemgus Girgensons
Zemgus Girgensons is another player in the NHL who can thank Kent Hughes for setting him up for the rest of his life. Though he never lived up to his first round potential, the 30 year old has earned nearly $18 million in his career.
The Canadiens have pretty much run out of centers this season, and there are some rumors about Jake Evans getting moved, though I think that is unlikely. If an offer did come along for Evans, it would make sense for Hughes to then turn to Girgensons to add some depth for the rest of the season.
He has very little offense to add, scoring five goals this season, but is a big center at 6'2" and 211 pounds and could play defensive minutes in a fourth line role to play out the season if the Canadiens need to acquire a center for next to nothing.
Trading future considerations, or a minor league player that is likely leaving the organization in the summer anyway for Girgensons would fill a hole in the Canadiens lineup. It would also give the player a fresh start with a new organization as he has been passed over by countless young forwards in the Sabres lineup.
Samuel Blais
Samuel Blais has had an odd up and down career thus far. He started with the St. Louis Blues and showed some promise, scoring 13 points in 40 games in his first full NHL season and then eight goals and 15 points in 36 games the following season.
The fact he is a 6'2" and 205 pound wrecking ball on ice made those numbers look like he could be a great third line winger that is a pain in the neck to play against and could chip in 15-20 goals and 30-35 points. That would be a great player to have on a playoff roster.
Then he was traded to the New York Rangers and he forgot how to score. He put up zero, that is zero, goals in 54 games before he was shipped back to the Blues halfway through last season. He rediscovered his game there, scoring nine goals and 20 points in 31 games to close out last season, but has just one goal and seven points in 41 games this year.
He will be a free agent this summer and if someone can get him to unlock his scoring touch and turn him into a 15 goal, 35 point winger there is a great player in there. If anyone is going to bring that out of him, it would be his former agent, who is now the general manager of the Montreal Canadiens.
Blais would come cheap, and likely around the $1 million on a one year contract like he is making this season and could turn into a nice addition to the top nine. Or just be a placeholder until a young player shows they are ready but there is nothing to lose.
William Carrier
William Carrier was a second round pick of the St. Louis Blues but after changing teams a couple of times he finally found a home with the Vegas Golden Knights. After his entry-level contract expired, Kent Hughes negotiated a nice four year extension for the depth forward that came with a $1.4 million cap hit.
The 6'2" and 218 pound left winger has some skill, which led to him scoring 16 goals and 25 points in 56 games last season. But he also plays with a bit of reckless abandon which makes him a tough player to face. He helped the Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup last season, scoring six points in 18 games and wearing down opponents with a relentless forecheck and never quit style of play.
The 29 year old is a free agent in the summer and the Golden Knights don't have a ton of cap space to keep him. His offense is down this season, as he has seven points in 33 games, but he brings value for his physicality and ability to move around the bottom six and put a few pucks in the net if given the opportunity.
Carrier is the type of that can play a depth role, and would be an ideal add if the Canadiens are able to move out a big winger like Joel Armia in the offseason. If he plays well, like last season, he could even move up to the third line, but if he doesn't, he can keep a spot warm for a younger player like Emil Heineman until he is ready to advance to the NHL level.
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