Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes may have ruffled a few feathers during his mid-season media availability on Monday.
When asked about the Canadiens not having a point-per-game player since forward Alex Kovalev, who logged 84 points in the 2007-08 season, the GM did not seem to view that level of production as a priority going forward.
“I don’t really think of it in terms of a point-per-game player. I do hear that a lot in this market,” he said, answering the question that also referenced Mats Naslund being the last Habs player to finish the season (1985-86) among the NHL’s 10 most productive forwards.
The ex-hockey agent then pointed to the example of former Boston Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron as a dominant forward who never reached the feat.
“It may be obvious for me because I represented him, but Patrice Bergeron — I don’t think he was ever a point-per-game player and he’s going to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, so…”
“There were guys on that team who played with him that were, weren’t there?” Stu Cowan, a reporter with The Gazette, chimed in, challenging the point.
“Yeah. Probably in large part because of him,” Hughes responded defensively.
Now, Hughes’ handling of the touchy subject is making waves among Habs fans on social media.
“Not a fan of this argument at all” HFTV founder Alex Rougas wrote in an X post with the press conference clip attached.
Spot the issue:
On one hand, he brings up Bergeron as an example as to why we don’t need a PPG player to win.
And then when it is mentioned there were PPG players on that team, it only happened because they played with Bergeron.
Not a fan of this argument at all. pic.twitter.com/SGMXiIkwdS
— HFTV (@HFTVSports) January 15, 2024
Meanwhile, Montreal Hockey Now’s Marc Dumont was quick to indicate the flaw in the GM’s argument, pointing to Bergeron’s 2018-19 season, which saw the centre log 79 points in just 65 games.
Patrice Bergeron did have a PPG season (2018-19).
But he's also one of the most complete players of all time.
Not sure those come around very often. #GoHabSgo
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) January 15, 2024
The Habs Reddit admin even compared Hughes to Montreal’s GMs of the past, who “never truly valued offensive talent.”
The only consistent thing I’ve seen from every single Habs GM since I could remember, from Savard to Gainey to Gauthier to Bergevin to Hughes, is that they never truly valued elite offensive talent.
The Habs haven’t had a PPG player in 16 fucking years lol
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) January 15, 2024
Kent Hughes has said some pretty shaky thinks in the past 12 months. From not going for need at the draft to do exactly that, to lacking offsensive talent while leaving legit studs on the board over a dman, this Bergeron nonsense, etc. IMO, he seems overwhelmed right about now.
— Jack of hart (@MrWhite1079) January 15, 2024
Others came to the GM’s defence, though, with one X user pointing to current captain Nick Suzuki (35 points in 42 games) as the next player to hit the PPG milestone
In Hughes’ head Suzuki can be our Bergeron and his linemates can be PPG playing with him. Seems pretty obvious what he meant to me.
— dav (17-18-7) #GHG (@davthemav) January 15, 2024
If a team can collectively score 3-4 goals per game, it doesn’t matter if they have a PPG player.
— Sean Olive (@seanolive) January 15, 2024
Nevertheless, 16 years without having a player reach that marker remains a problem for the Canadiens — especially because in that time, every other NHL team (except recent expansion additions like Vegas and Seattle) has seen at least one of their forwards net more than 82 points in a single campaign.
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