Kent Hughes Mid-Season Review

The Montreal Canadiens have been on a rollercoaster so far this season, they had a tough start, struggled defensively and needed to do some tweaking before finally turning a corner in December. With his team having won eight of the last 10 games, just before hitting the 41-game mark, it was time for the GM to field questions from the press.

As always, a variety of topics were covered, with a few questions aiming to find out what the plan will be with the pending free agents, but as he has in the past, Hughes refused to talk about contract negotiations.

Unsurprisingly, the GM was asked about the Canadiens' visit in Russia to see Ivan Demidov. He stated he had no regrets about making the trip, even though the Habs received bad press in some spheres for it, adding there were other teams there when Montreal was. As we've previously reported, Hughes also confirmed Demidov would not join the Canadiens this season since his KHL campaign wouldn't be over in time.

Related: Hughes To Negotiate With SKA St. Petersburg Today

He explained the talks he had with Roman Rotenberg was just standard discussions about the player's progress, where the player is at, how he had progressed and added they had the same opinion about what was expected of Demidov from his coach. Asked if he had made any demands about his deployment he laughed and said:

We don't have the power to make any demands [laughs], we'd like him to play 20 minutes per game, but just like Juraj did when he got here, he [Demidov] has had highs and lows, just like every professional athlete. The more you overcome those lows, the better prepared you are for the NHL.

Asked if the organization has misevaluated Justin Barron and Cayden Primeau when they decided to trade Jonathan Kovacevic and Jake Allen last season, the GM said it wasn't the case. He traded Barron to obtain something he didn't have in his lineup, an experienced player who could take a heavy workload and take on the best players. Furthermore, he mentioned the roster limit and the presence of waivers as to elements that factored in the Barron trade, he couldn't keep 10 defensemen.

Related: Canadiens Trade Barron To Nashville For Carrier

As for Primeau, he explained the coaching staff had decided to ride Samuel Montembeault and the backup needed to play to build his confidence back, so he had to be sent down to get some playing time.

On Juraj Slafkovsky, he said he wasn't surprised to see him go through some struggles this season, even reminding the press the he had mentioned he expected that when he signed him.

I am fully confident about Juraj, but he's got to keep his head down and work.

While refusing to talk about contract discussion, the GM did say he had no intention of letting his lineup be flooded by youngster because that would probably result in a regression. He intends to be flexible and allow young players that are ready to make the jump to the pros to do it, but they'll have to be ready to take the ball and run with it. On young players, he also said every player is different, adding Lane Hutson needed two years in the NCAA before graduating and mentioning Michael Hage is still in his first year in that league.

About being in the mix, the GM explained the reason he wanted his team to be in the mix was to allow his young players to live and learn to win under the pressure of meaningful hockey games. He said his captain had only experienced one Stanley Cup playoffs run, looking at the other teams who have had Cup success, they lived through disappointment before winning.

On David Reinbacher, Hughes said that long term, nothing has changed. The injury was unfortunate and it will take time for him to be able to get back to the level he was at just like Kirby Dach. This season however, they've kept him around the team, made him take part in pre scouts, the meetings with the team and he's learned what the coaches want and how things work in the NHL.

Related: Canadiens: Reinbacher Undoergoes Surgery, Will Miss Five to Six Months

Clearly, the GM has a balancing act in front of him when it comes to young players and veterans. Specifically on Evans, he said he's an important player for the Habs, he has a lot of experience and is very useful on top of being well respected in the room. Hughes did not want to say whether he plans on signing Evans, but judging from what he said today, I would be surprised if he wasn't signed to an extension.

Hughes also seems very pleased with Alexandre Carrier's arrival and what it has meant to the team, it allowed Guhle to play on his natural side and the young defenseman game has been better since then. On the blueline, he believes his coach has found the right way to communicate with his young players what's expected of them and what's needed.

Aside from the team's confidence, Hughes believes the culture that's currently being build in the room will be very important in the years to come:

I strongly believe that to win in a team sport, and especially in hockey, you have got to reach a point where individual goals must be aligned with the team's objectives, and that's not easy but when it doesn't happen, it's really hard to win. We're seeing this here right now.

Thinking about what we've seen from Josh Anderson and Brendan Gallagher this season, it's easy to understand what the GM means. Both veterans have embraced their new role on the team and have been fully committed to what St-Louis is asking of them.

Finally, about his trading strategy, Hughes seems happy with what he has on his hands right now and explains that if he was to trade for futures right now, he might defer the returns considering the draft capital he has on his hands at the moment. For now, there are still 22 games before the trade deadline and it's too early to say if the Habs will be sellers by then, the GM says they still have a lot to learn before March 7.

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