Canadiens may have interest in agent Kent Hughes in GM search

On this edition of 32 Thoughts, Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek discuss Mitch Marner's status, the Canadiens' interest in agent Kent Hughes, if the NHL will go back to taxi squads, Jake DeBrusk's trade value, and more.

As the Montreal Canadiens try to right the ship after a tough start to the season, newly hired executive vice president Jeff Gorton has a critical decision to make in who he hires as the team's next general manager.

Gorton did offer up a potential hint into the team's direction when it comes to their approach in the candidates they plan to interview.

"So, Jeff Gorton had an interesting comment, he had his first media meeting with the people of Montreal yesterday and one of the things he talked about was the possibility of somebody different as a GM, maybe an agent," said Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman on Saturday night during the 32 Thoughts segment on Hockey Night in Canada.

"The person who I believe they're interested in who is an agent is Kent Hughes, who's born in Montreal, he is bilingual, (and is) now in the Boston area. So there's a connection to Gordon for both of them being around there. Among his client list include Patrice Bergeron, Kris Letang and formerly Vincent Lecavalier with Quartexx Management. I think he's on Montreal's radar as a candidate."

While Hughes appears to be on their radar, there hasn't been much progress.

"From what I've been told there's been no contact at this point in time. And Gorton said yesterday, they haven't reached out to interview anybody," Friedman said. "But I do think he's one of the agents or the agent on Montreal's radar."

Though Gorton is not interested in rushing the hiring process, saying that a new general manager likely wouldn't be named until after Christmas, he indicated when asked about Patrick Roy's interest in a reunion that his declaration didn't go unnoticed.

"I'm just getting here, and just getting a feel for the organization and as we move forward," Gorton said on Friday in his first-ever public comments with the Canadiens. "Figuring out how we're gonna go about picking the general manager, we're gonna look at everybody that we think could be a fit. So, I'm not gonna rule anybody out, I'm not gonna say yes or no to anybody, but certainly Patrick Roy, I heard that he made that statement, I know he's a passionate guy, I know a lot of people that know him well, and I have obviously a lot of respect for somebody like that."

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