While the Montreal Canadiens find themselves at the bottom of the NHL standings once again, fans remain hopeful, believing that the team’s future is bright.
A large part of that optimism comes from the work general manager Kent Hughes has done over the past two seasons, ridding the Canadiens’ roster of many bad contracts and accumulating promising prospects and draft picks in the process.
In a recent interview with Slovakia’s Sport.sk, Hughes spoke of the development of players like Juraj Slafkovsky and his fellow countryman Filip Mesar. The Montreal native also touched on the current state of the Habs’ rebuild, providing a glimpse of how much longer it could take.
“We have to keep getting better; otherwise, we wouldn’t be in a rebuilding phase. We have some good offensive players in our group and we need more,” Hughes said after being asked if he was satisfied with where the team was at.
One common criticism of the Canadiens has been their inability to produce a top 10 point leader in the NHL for the better part of the past four decades. However, Hughes argues that a “star” of that calibre would not necessarily solve all the team’s issues.
“Do we need a star? The Edmonton Oilers are sitting at the bottom of the standings right now with two of the biggest stars of the NHL. It takes more than that to win,” he noted.
Sticking with the Oilers comparison, Hughes pointed to the likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, who have yet to go farther than a Conference Final appearance.
“Everybody wants Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. We’d love to have them. But two players alone have never won the Stanley Cup,” he said. “Cap space is another big thing in hockey. When you have a bunch of star players, you don’t have the ability to improve your team in the off-season as much.”
Montreal’s long history of elite players has also raised expectations, and rightfully so.
“There are a lot of ways to build a team that can have success… Because of the history of Maurice Richard, Jean Beliveau, Guy Lafleur or Steve Shutt, there’s a lot of people that want a star player,” Hughes explained. “But ultimately, our job is to take what we have in terms of draft and draft picks and everything else and try to build the team that can win.”
While a playoff appearance appears unlikely this season, Hughes said he cannot provide a realistic picture of when the team will be competitive but knows fans’ patience will run thin if things aren’t steadily improving.
“I believe that, if the fanbase is understanding that we are in a rebuild they will want to see progression in terms of our team and young players,” he said. “If they feel there is a lack of progression, then I feel they are going to run out quicker of patience.
“If they see that the team is progressing and young players are becoming an important part of that, then I hope they continue to believe in what we are trying to achieve.”