GDT: Kent Hughes / Jeff Gorton / Geoff Molson Press Conference Jan 19, 4:00 PM ET

[River Meadow]

I can see why Gorton likes this guy so much.

He is smart as hell, you can just see it.

 

[Gravity]

So I just finished watching Kent’s interviews on twitch and Sportsnet with Erik Engels.
My key takeaway is that he seems very open to a retool and not necessarily a full rebuild.
The reason I think that is because In the Engels interview He kept referring and listing to the importance of leadership and chemistry in the room being vital and then goes on to tell anecdotes about some retired veterans in the league and how they helped the rest of the team play better including Recchi’s impact in Bostonz
He also mentioned that when thinking about the Stanley cup being an objective for them, that it could be something they go for in year 1, 4 or 5 and that it all depends. The fact that he included year 1 in there I thought was notable.
He says that he’s going to focus on advanced stats to help judge players and that it’s not enough to say that a player is doing poorly but to find out why he’s doing poorly which suggests that he’s not ready to trade the everyone right away and that he wants to see if they’ll fit in the new modern and offensive identity he wants to build.
He also said that he’s big on player development and for him as a scout it starts when the kids are like 14 but that it shouldn’t stop just when you get to the NHL which again means he’s going to want more than just Ducharme working with these and future players moving forward.

I am sorry but there is just no way this team is 1 year away from the sustainable contention he referred to.

 

[Leafs1991]

Aren't you able to meet someone or listen to their communication and learn about their experiences and acknowledge that they they are intelligent? It was a 45 minute interview.

You can, but I wanted to hear why he thought so, especially so given Kent has no experience as a GM.

 

[Sthabs]

Really liked what I saw. Seems like a smart guy with a plan.
Now lets see if he can actually put it in practice or if it s just talk.

 

[SwiftyHab]

I am sorry but there is just no way this team is 1 year away from the sustainable contention he referred to.

I don’t think so either but then again we were in the Stanley cup final last year so it’s not out of the realm of possibilities to think that there’s a good core here that could compete again sooner rather than later

 

[BozoTheClown]

So I just finished watching Kent’s interviews on twitch and Sportsnet with Erik Engels.
My key takeaway is that he seems very open to a retool and not necessarily a full rebuild.
The reason I think that is because In the Engels interview He kept referring and listing to the importance of leadership and chemistry in the room being vital and then goes on to tell anecdotes about some retired veterans in the league and how they helped the rest of the team play better including Recchi’s impact in Bostonz
He also mentioned that when thinking about the Stanley cup being an objective for them, that it could be something they go for in year 1, 4 or 5 and that it all depends. The fact that he included year 1 in there I thought was notable.
He says that he’s going to focus on advanced stats to help judge players and that it’s not enough to say that a player is doing poorly but to find out why he’s doing poorly which suggests that he’s not ready to trade the everyone right away and that he wants to see if they’ll fit in the new modern and offensive identity he wants to build.
He also said that he’s big on player development and for him as a scout it starts when the kids are like 14 but that it shouldn’t stop just when you get to the NHL which again means he’s going to want more than just Ducharme working with these and future players moving forward.

I think Price is done in Montreal. It’s been 15 years.
I also think that Gallagher is out at some point.
We don’t have a 1st line, not much of a second line either and Suzuki is out only top center. Most of our wingers are 2nd line quality. We are without a #1 dmen and this point, with Petry performance so far this seasons, we are without a top pairing defensive duo.
I think they are expecting to be there in 5 years and we should start seeing results after the 3rd seasons.

We need top end talent and this is the hardest part to get. It takes time.

 

[SwiftyHab]

I think once you get a new coach that everyone gets reevaluated.

 

[ItzaGreat]

Molson said they met 11 candidates:

Hughes
Darche
Brière
Roy
Luongo
Castonguay
Denis
Sauvageau
Sedgwick

Who else ?

Me

 

[Gravity]

I don’t think so either but then again we were in the Stanley cup final last year so it’s not out of the realm of possibilities to think that there’s a good core here that could compete again sooner rather than later

We lost that good core. It's no longer the same team.

 

[BozoTheClown]

We lost that good core. It's no longer the same team.

From the look of it, it went from Weber, Price, Gallagher, Perry, and Edmundson as leaders last year, to pretty much only Edmundson, who hasn’t played yet.

 

[TheBuriedHab]

I just hope they can make this team exciting again. I miss actually wanting to watch the habs. Its been years.

 

[Kriss E]

I don’t think so either but then again we were in the Stanley cup final last year so it’s not out of the realm of possibilities to think that there’s a good core here that could compete again sooner rather than later

A lot of that core is gone or damaged goods...
Danault - Gone
Tatar - Gone (not good in POs but his during the season is a big reason we even made it in)
Price - Damaged goods
Weber - Damaged goods
Petry - Shadow of himself
Perry - Gone

Not to mention, this only happens because we played in a Canadian division with 6 opponents.
If we faced a team in our usual division like...Tampa...in Round 1 or 2 as we were meant to, we never make the Finals too.
Last year should not be some measuring standard. The season prior, we were 24th.
We were meant to miss the POs 4/5 last years, in a normal season we probably miss the POs last season as well going 5/6. That's what you need to look at...not some odd run during a special covid year.

There is a lot of work to do.

 

[jaffy27]

Thought I was watching a PC but all of sudden, heard some sweet music coming in.

Perfect depiction of our initial reaction to that quote

 

[Hins77]

Kent Hugues isnt talking about reset/retool, name it like you want. Now, This guys will just never sign guys like armia,byron, hoffman, alzner, gallagher on a long term or/ high aav. Like previous management. Then, the team is gonna be build by itself . Bad contracts his killing a team.. He just wants assets in his hands. He told it. Teams buy high and sells low. Exemple : team gonna buy high if toffoli (aav) or chiarot (1 yr left) are on the market. He will probably use it. Instead of selling low gallagher.

 

[Kriss E]

Just find it refreshing we have guys in place who don't act like they're the smartest in the room...
Bergey always sounded arrogant and pompous, getting away with him because of his charm.

Feels good to have intelligent people leading the team, or so it seems...hopefully they'll live up to it!

 

[Censored Toad]

Well I didn't see it but I trust people on here to give a good sense if it was a + or -
Seems like a +

Get to it boys.... sell sell sell!

 

[sampollock]

Trade deadline is the 1st big hurdle

 

[dinodebino]

Best words per minute answers on that platform. He's really letting himself loose.

Transcripts?

 

[Harry Kakalovich]

I like Hughes - hopefully they do ok altogether

 

[Habricot]

I just hope everyone remembers these comments when he makes a move that you dont like.

 

[26Mats]

Trade deadline is the 1st big hurdle

I'm expecting Chiarot and Kulak (the ufas) to go for whatever the market will pay for them.

not really expecting more than that at this point. Would be nice to trade vets for something. But none of our vets are having particularly good seasons. So why trade them now when their value is low?

 

[Habs]

A GM that can do Math? And it took Molson how many years to find someone that could do it? Wow

 

[Mandalorian]

An interesting target on the UFA market this summer could be Andre Burakovsky.

Will be 27 this summer. 6'3 200 pounds.

31 points in 34 games. Among the best in the league for One-Ice expected goals%, monster corsi and fenwick.

Find a way to trade Drouin and Toffoli and you get yourselves 10M$ in cap space. Enough to sign this guy.

 

[Habricot]

An interesting target on the UFA market this summer could be Andre Burakovsky.

Will be 27 this summer. 6'3 200 pounds.

31 points in 34 games. Among the best in the league for One-Ice expected goals%, monster corsi and fenwick.

Find a way to trade Drouin and Toffoli and you get yourselves 10M$ in cap space. Enough to sign this guy.

There is no reason to trade Toffoli

 

[V13]

His approach seems analytical. Bergevin approach was emotional. He sounds a lot more calculated than Bergevin ever did and that's a great thing

Roy would have had an emotional approach as well. Just an angrier version of Bergevin imho