It wasn’t that long ago that the Montreal Canadiens were in the running for the first overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
Now? They’re sitting in a playoff wild-card spot with time ticking down.
The Canadiens have been one of the most fascinating teams in 2024-25, defying most expectations to put themselves square in the playoff hunt. They boast one of the youngest teams in the NHL, but that hasn’t stopped them from coming together and putting up a fight.
On the most recent episode of Frankly Speaking with Frank Seravalli, Canadiens GM Kent Hughes talks about the team’s play this year and what he has learned:
Frank Seravalli: “What’s it like to be in the mix and what are you looking forward most to seeing?”
Kent Hughes: “Well, it’s exciting. When you’re a competitive person like I am, and you come into a job, which was January of (2022), the task at hand is to rebuild an organization. But your inner self wants to win every hockey game and to be in the position that we’re in now. For Jeff (Gorton), it’s the same situation. He came in a bit earlier that same season. It’s exciting where every game counts. We’re looking forward to seeing how our players react to that kind of pressure. We’ll learn from them and they’ll gain valuable experience during this run.
Frank Seravalli: “Right, so they’re going to learn a lot. What have you learned about this team so far this year?
Kent Hughes: “That when we’re playing our game, we can play with anybody. We’re still searching for that consistency. I think if you look at any stretch of games, we’ve been very good. We haven’t been great in other stretches and we’re back on another winning stretch. Which, to me, to a certain degree, is to be expected with a young team. One of the last things to come is consistency with a player and a group. So we’re hoping that all of this, they’re building blocks, they’re foundational pieces that we acquire and carry forward with us.
Frank Seravalli: “What do you think is the biggest reason why your team has been able to take a jump from last year to this year? Is it just the growth of individual young players or do you also get a shot in the arm from someone like Late Hutson?”
Kent Hughes: “I think it’s everything. I think it’s the individual growth of the players. I think it’s the growth of the coaching staff. It’s a younger group, but they’ve also been together for an extended period of time. And they learn to figure out what works. So sometimes you know what you want to teach. It’s figuring out how to communicate it in a way that everybody understands. And then the Lane Hutson’s of the world, certainly those are differential players that are coming in and making a big difference for us.”
You can watch the full episode below.
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