Kent Hughes says he is satisfied with the Canadian season

BETTING À DAY

Even if his team is flirting with the bottom of the general classification of the National Hockey League (NHL), the general manager of the Montreal Canadiens, Kent Hughes, believes that the 2022-2023 campaign of his is a success. 

That's what he said during his appearance on The Athletic site's podcast “Got Yer' Back”.

“It's hard to look super positive when we're fifth from the bottom of the standings. If we consider that the objective at the start of the year was to focus on individual and collective growth, that we take into account the disproportionate number of injuries that we have had to deal with and our constantly changing formation, I would say that we let's consider this season a successful one,” said Hughes.

“Our players, despite all the injuries, especially our youngsters, have mostly played games where they could hope to win.”< /p>

The Caufield File

Speaking of young players and injuries, the GM of the Canadian discussed the negotiations concerning the contract extension of Cole Caufield. The maverick had an excellent campaign before going under the knife to treat an injury to one of his shoulders. In 46 games, he amassed 26 goals and 10 assists for 36 points.

“The one thing I don't often talk to the media about is contract negotiations,” Hughes said. It's not that I don't want to talk about it, but it's that negotiations are rarely a straight line to a deal. I feel like talking about it publicly would create expectations. If it finally takes longer, everyone would start wondering if something is wrong.”

“Sometimes people are just busy and there are other elements that create delays. . I would say the conversations are very positive. Cole wants to be a Montreal Canadiens and we love having him. We're working on it.”

In addition, Hughes has opened the door for forward Sean Farrell to join his organization when his NCAA season comes to an end.

” He is still very busy. Out of respect for Sean and for Harvard University, I think he should focus on his goal of winning a national championship. Once his season is over, we'll definitely phone him up and explore. We would love to have him with us, but he still has another year of schooling. He can choose to do it, it's up to him. We'll have those conversations with him and his agent.”