Where do you even start with a thread like this? Some people have so much hatred towards a team that they can't even look at what's right in front of them.
Firstly, if I recall correctly, the issue with Hoffman was his wife, not him, so I don't know where this "cancer" stuff came from.
As to the question of needing to get rid of him and the salary cap and all that, it's very simple. As it stands right now, even with Price's contract included, the Habs need to shed just 3.77 million to get under the cap meaning nobody on LTIR. Starting the year with nobody on LTIR is always better when it comes to in season flexibility but also bonuses that need to be paid out at the end of the year. If you don't understand why, ask Boston fans.
And yes, it's one less forward that needs to get ice time meaning more for younger players.
For the deal(s) itself, they're ok. Montreal basically got the high end value from Pittsburgh rather than Detroit. Habs fans were making the assumption, like we did with Monahan, that IF things went the way we hoped, we'd be able to maximize value and get a higher end asset for them. Clearly the aspect of hypothetical perfect scenarios in the future is lost on some of the big brained people in here.
Most fans were thinking that if he were to be traded before the year started, he'd get roughly a 3rd rounder compared to a better pick if it were at the deadline. Considering he was traded for 1 round less but with a player on top of it, I'd say the expectation was pretty accurate.
With regards to Hughes, again, the deal isn't phenomenal by any stretch of the imagination but it's still a pretty good deal considering we got the two picks and the cap flexibility and we'll see what happens with Desmith as well.