Hughes hired as general manager by Canadiens

The 51-year-old signed a five-year contract and replaces Marc Bergevin, who was fired as GM on Nov. 28. Jeff Gorton was hired as executive vice president of hockey operations the same day and said then that a new GM would be bilingual and that he could go “outside the box,” including naming a player agent, to fill the position.

Hughes is the 18th general manager in the history of the Canadiens.

“The process of finding our new general manager afforded us the opportunity to meet a number of extremely qualified candidates,” Gorton said in a statement Monday. “Kent stood out, and we believe he is the right person to be the general manager of the Canadiens. We also believe that Kent’s experience as an agent will be a great asset to the organization.”

Hughes was an agent for Quartexx Management based in Montreal. He has represented several high-profile NHL players from the province of Quebec, including Vincent Lecavalier, who played for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers and Los Angeles Kings. His current client list includes center Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins, forward Sammy Blais of the New York Rangers, defenseman Kris Letang of the Pittsburgh Penguins, forward Anthony Beauvillier of the New York Islanders, and defenseman Darnell Nurse of the Edmonton Oilers.

“We are very excited to add Kent Hughes to our organization,” Canadiens owner Geoff Molson said. “Kent is highly-respected in the hockey world, having built an excellent reputation as an NHL player agent for over 25 years now.”

Hughes, a native of Montreal, played four seasons of NCAA Division III hockey for Middlebury College (Vermont) from 1988 to 1992. He holds the school record for assists (140) and points (194) in a career, and most assists (48 in 1992) and most points (63 in 1992) in a season. Middlebury was 65-13-2 during Hughes’ final three seasons and won a national championship in 1991. He was inducted into Middlebury College Sports Hall of Fame in 2020.

Hughes’ brother, Ryan, was a second-round pick (No. 22) of the Quebec Nordiques in the 1990 NHL Draft. Ryan Hughes played three NHL games for the Bruins in 1995-96.

Kent’s son, Riley Hughes, was drafted by the New York Rangers in the seventh round (No. 216) of the 2018 NHL Draft and is a junior at Northeastern University (NCAA). His other son, Jack, is a freshman at Northeastern. He is ranked No. 7 among North AmerIcan skaters in NHL Central Scouting Service’s mid-term rankings for the 2022 NHL Draft.

Bergevin had been the sole head of hockey operations since being named general manager May 2, 2012. The Canadiens were 344-265-81 during his tenure, making the Stanley Cup Playoffs six times in his nine full seasons, including a five-game loss to the Lightning in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final.