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pengupengupengu · 3 years ago

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Q&A Roundtable w/ HuGo Recap

Note: This was very much meant to be a recap and then it became more than a recap lmao. They were really entertaining and everything they talked about was really interesting so I ended up transcribing just about everything LOL

Hughes on how difficult it will future TDLs be when we are a buyer: "It will definitely be different. It will be in some sense a more enjoyable process because you are bringing players in and probably be trading away picks. It's difficult to send away players that are part of the family. You know that there are emotional connections, there's family issues, there are a lot of things that go with it. But on the hand, when you are a buyer, you are on the opposite end. I think buyers typically, given the need to try to win, end up paying a little bit more so I look forward to being on that end, and hopefully it's sooner than later."

Gorton on when Barron will be able to play: "We are actually flying him today to Montreal, and he will be on the ice tomorrow with us... You will have to stay tuned to find out exactly when he will play, but he is coming to Montreal."

Gorton on if he's been able to enjoy the city since he came here: "I have! The beginning was a little tough with a little COVID... But lately, being able to go out to the restaurants and the city, it's been really nice."

Hughes on their plans for Norlinder next season: "That plan will start to take shape I guess in the summertime when we have our development camp and as we move into the season. But we certainly like him here in North America, whether that's in Laval or Montreal, that's a decision that's going to be made during training camp. And again, those decisions are made initially, but it's an evolving process as we learned this year with injuries and sickness, there's been a tremendous amount of turnover, so hopefully he comes and has a great year and we are seeing him in Montreal at some point."

Gorton on if St. Louis' interim tag get removed during the off season: "I think that would be nice. We agreed when we brought [St. Louis] in that we wouldn't talk about it until the season was over and he's put a pretty good foot forward into showing us what he can do and how our team will respond to him... It's certainly encouraging, his beginnings"

Gorton on if Caufield will be able to change his number: "That's a good question for the summer." Also, it seems like if Caufield did want to change his number, it was not made know to the management.

Hughes on if the plan is to draft mostly forwards: "No, we haven't sat down and discussed what the plan will be, but for the most part, I imagine it would be to draft the best possible player and the roster construction component of it comes after the fact, not at the draft."

Gorton on if they have any intention to try Joshua Roy in the next training camp/season: "I think that he's having a great year. We certainly like what he is doing and that would be nice... He's a player we're really happy with how he's playing and how he's developing. I think we will sit down with him soon and figure out what's next on his plan."

Hughes on if they talked to Jordan Harris' agent yet and how it works exactly: "The NCAA doesn't permit any student athletes to have an agent technically, so he would be what they call, a NCAA family advisor. And they can't negotiate professional contracts so we've talked about what the opportunity in Montreal would be for him if he chooses to. He's a pending free agent if he doesn't sign with us. Our hope is that he does. We laid out what we are trying to do with the organization, what our plan is, how we see him fitting in... I've known [Harris] for a long time. I've coached [Harris]. I know his family and he played with and against my oldest son since they were 7 or 8 years of age, so hopeful that there is a bit of familiarity that works in our favour."

Gorton on if there is going to be a discussion about a future Captain next season: "Yea, I think that's what we are going to have, is a discussion about that. [Hughes] and I and the coach will figure it out in the off season if we are ready for that, if we have somebody that's ready for that, and we will go from there"

Hughes on if Price coming back this season: "I don't think there's ever been a press conference in Montreal that didn't include Carey Price. We're hopeful."

Gorton on if we will see Schueneman next year: "Yea, he's definitely been impressive since his latest recall... If he can keep up this level of play, I would say we certainly would like to keep him and move forward with him. He moves the puck well, he plays bigger than he is, can really shoot a puck, so actually pretty excited to see how he's played lately."

On if we should sign Markov to 1 game complete his 1000 games:

Gorton: "Probably not"

Hughes: "I think Jeff is going to say that's a summer thing."

Gorton: "It's not a summer thing... No. He was a great player though. Underrated."

Hughes on how much information do you have on a prospect before you trade for them: "Depends on the prospect. Can't say that we have an equal book on each prospect that exists in the National Hockey League, but if it's a prospect that we either targetting or brought up to us, all hands are on deck. We are talking to our amateur scouts that may have seen that player in his amateur days, his pro days. We have our development coach, [Lecavalier], even [St. Louis], ourselves, we are all watching video on them trying to get as much of a handle on what their game is and with the software system today, it's amazing the way we can evaluate a player."

On their impression of Pezzetta:

Gorton: "Strong. Listen, every time he's on the ice, you notice him... His style of play is attractive to the fans and to his bosses. He's good... Certainly impressed with where he is at and how far he has come."

Hughes: "And his fashion sense."

On how they split the tasks up:

Hughes: "[Gorton] puts his feet up on his desk, he looks at the ceiling, and he looks back at me."

Gorton: "I take all the good stuff and I leave him with all the hard stuff."

Gorton: "I think it flows pretty good. We have different relationships with different people and we work pretty well of each other, we are learning that, and we have fun with it."

On their opinion of the possibility using picks to draft earlier in each round:

Hughes: "It depends on where the player is on our list. If there is a player that we commit, we can use picks to get up and get him."

Gorton: "I think we afforded ourselves the ability to do different things, whether we need to go up, whether we need to go down, with all these picks... It's exciting to think about where we can use these picks and maybe it's somebody that's ready to play. Another team, maybe they're looking for a first round pick, and we flip it that way. There's a lot of different scenarios we can look at."

Hughes on where Suzuki is in his development: "I'm a big fan of Nick Suzuki's game and Nick Suzuki as an individual and future leader. We've heard that he admires Patrice Bergeron and wants to play in that vein. And I represented [Bergeron] for almost 22 years now. I see a lot of parallels in him in terms of character. They're quiet leaders. They're very serious about their profession. [Suzuki] has certain attributes that he has certain advantages over [Bergeron]. I think he will continue to learn how to play on the defensive side of it, to get to [Bergeron], but he is a great role model to aspire to. I see Nick Suzuki as a number 1 centre in the NHL."

Gorton on what they will be looking for in free agency this summer: "Can't tell everybody everything [Machabee]. I would say that there is actually a good free agent market. There is a lot of good players out there. We will look at it. See where we are at, see where our holes are, and see if there is a fit. Whatever we do, it won't be a short term fix. We will be looking for the future. Maybe we get short term deals to try to wait until some of these young players are available, but we like to give our young players as many opportunities to play too."

Gorton on if he sees any similarities between Josh Anderson and Chris Kreider: "Actually I do. Both power wingers, hard to find. Goal scorers. Anderson is a tough tough kid and he gets a lot of room, and I actually think he can still get better. So, I'm excited about him. He's the kind of player that's really hard to find. There's not many players like him in the league. I think he can only get better as our group gets better."

Gorton on what was the biggest surprise this year: "I expected [Caufield] to be really good and now he's playing really well, so that's exciting. I think Suzuki - when I first got here, I'd heard that he was a good player and maybe a quality second line player, but the more we are watching him, the more we are seeing him getting better every game. That's huge for us, if he can go to that next level. So, probably him."

On if Chiarot could be back next season:

Hughes: "Can't talk about it."

Gorton: "Definitely can't talk about it."

Gorton: "When we traded Ben Chiarot, my wife was very disappointed."

Hughes (to Gorton): "Let's hope when we trade you, you get the same reaction."

Gorton (to Hughes): "I was worried when we came out here that [Lecavalier] was going to sit next to me."

Hughes on Kaiden Guhle: "So I went and saw him play in Edmonton when we were there and I met with him after and chatted with him. Listen, he's a young prospect. We don't need to place anybody anywhere at this point of time. We are still finishing this season. We expect him to be a Montréal Canadien for a long time and we are going to retain that flexibility to judge and gauge as we go here. There's been a lot of questions about development. We are not going to force players into situations that they're not ready for, but at the same time, we are not going to hold players back if they show that they're ready for it.

Hughes says that Guhle's game is robust and compares him to Ben Chiarot.

Gorton on how many rookies they think could come into the roster next season: "It's hard to say... Guhle has a chance to make our team, of course. Like [Hughes] said, we won't hold him back if he's ready. Beyond that, there are always a few surprises. We talked about a few young players. That's what we need. It's always good to have the young kids make your team, give you the enthusiasm, the excitement, the fans get behind it, the players like it."

Gorton on should we expect long term deals for Romanov and Caufield this summer: "While [Hughes] thinks about it, I'll tell you about it. I would say: Maybe. If the deal is right, for sure. [Romanov] is playing really good right now and certainly more opportunities with [Chiarot] and [Kulak] gone. So we will see. He's a player we like that we like to keep moving forward with. He has a certain element that is hard to find. Caufield has got another year, so we'll see. But two players that we hope will be with us for a while."

Hughes on what he considers a successful season for a team in a transition phase: "We see a progression in terms of: 1) style of play. 2) the youthfulness of our players. We have got players that are going to play on our team next year, there is no question about it, whether they're still a part of our team when we are ready to go compete for the Stanley Cup, probably not. Timelines are timelines. But we also want to make sure that we see the culture, the commitment to the team, to winning, and to putting their best foot forward every night... And see our younger players start to challenge for jobs."

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#habs lb #montreal canadiens #kent hughes #jeff gorton #Youtube

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