MONTREAL – After the players wrapped up their seasons Friday at the CN Sports Complex, it was management’s turn to do the same on Monday.
Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton spoke to reporters at the Bell Centre to reflect on the 2024-25 campaign and, without revealing too much, share some insight into their plans for the summer ahead.
The Canadiens general manager and executive vice president of hockey operations also touched on individual player performances, the organization’s rich prospect pipeline in Laval, and their evaluations of Habs head coach Martin St-Louis and Rocket bench boss Pascal Vincent.
Here are some highlights from Hughes and Gorton’s end-of-season media op.
Please note questions and answers have been modified for clarity and conciseness.
If your unrestricted free agents leave, do you feel the need to replace them with experienced veterans, or do you see an opportunity for younger players to step up and fill those roles?
KH: First off, regarding our unrestricted free agents, we’ve informed them all that we need to meet and make those decisions – no decisions have been made at this time. That said, for us, it always comes down to balance. I’ve mentioned it before: when you’re in a rebuild, you’re constantly balancing the present with the future. We recognize the value of experience, but at the same time, we don’t want to put restraints on our younger players. We’re continuing to build toward something, and we’ve always said, our goal is to build a team capable of competing for the Stanley Cup for an extended period.
Now that your team has made the playoffs, how much does that become a stepping stone? Does it fast forward the plan?
JG: I don't think it's fast forwarding anything. We've come in here with a plan of what we want to do to rebuild this team, and I think it's certainly helpful in a lot of ways: the experience of it for our players and maybe showing the rest of the league what it could be like to play here. There’s a lot of benefits from what the players were able to do this season. But we're certainly not done. There's a lot more to do here. It's been a real good year. It's been a fun year for everybody to be part of and we're going to use it to as a huge stepping stone to where we're going.
KH: My experience representing players [as an agent] was that players come into the league, they're young — and we have a lot of that. Their first objective is to prove to themselves that they belong, and they want to show their family, their friends, those that doubted them. Once they feel comfortable, that focus shifts to how much we can win. And I think when you have the good fortune of living through the playoffs and chasing winning a Stanley Cup one day, I think that really helps young players take more and more ownership of the team, and not just themselves. So, our hope is that that will be the case here.
Everybody is referencing the balance between youth and experience. Where are the other areas where you feel you need to balance things out? What are key priorities in terms of adding balance that would enable you to reach your goal?
JG: As we're building the team out, we're trying to get better in all areas. We're not a finished product and there's not one area of our team where we're saying, “we're done there.” So, we'll continue to look at everything and try to build it out. Everyone's talking about size and Washington and the way they played — we’re certainly aware of that. As we move forward, Kent and I have a lot of discussions about it, and ultimately, compete is the biggest thing: making sure that we have players that are comfortable in a playoff environment and able to play in all situations. There's really nothing we won't look at to improve the team.
What’s the next step in moving from a borderline playoff team to becoming a consistent playoff team?
KH: Experience, leadership and continuing to add to the team. There are certain things we can and can’t say today, because we don’t want to reveal our plan to the 31 other teams. That said, there’s no doubt we want to add more talent to our team, and we need to determine to what extent we want to add experience versus gain experience [with the players we have].
Where does Kirby Dach fit going forward?
JG: Obviously he’s had two really tough years and two tough injuries here, so we're going to have to see how he responds this summer to the rehab and going through this again. There's certainly a place for him in our lineup; it's going to be up to him to decide where that's going to be. He has size, he's competitive, he's got skill. He's a very talented player. So, I think a lot is in the balance of how his summer goes. […] I think a lot, unfortunately, is just going to be what kind of summer he has and what kind of start he has to camp. He's going to need a big camp to get himself going and get started early.
Does signing Lane Hutson sooner than later become a priority?
KH: Yes. I noticed Lane mentioned he’d like to sign a contract sooner than later, so we’ll be reaching out to his agent, and we’ll see. I think it’s important to have that conversation and know what’s important for Lane. And from there, we’ll see if we can come to an agreement on terms.
Your head coach was named a finalist for the Jack Adams Award. What are your takeaways from his season, and during the time when you were playing meaningful games, how do you think he handled business?
KH: I think Martin and his staff as a whole did an excellent job this year. What we saw from Martin in November — his ability to get his team respond — shouldn’t surprise anybody that knew him as a player, because that’s how he played his entire career. He’s extremely competitive. When you doubt him, instead of hiding, he comes out and proves himself. […] But I would imagine it’s even harder as a coach than as a player, because as a player, you only need to take care of your own job, where as a coach, you need 23 players to help you prove yourself. I think he learned a lot this year. Making adjustments and improving [when you’re under the microscope every day] isn’t easy.
JG: [in French] I agree with Kent. [laughs]
