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In Hainsight: Hughes Strikes Again |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
Kent Hughes is a man on a mission and with a plan, as the long-rumored arrival of Pierre-Luc Dubois in la belle province looks dead in the water, the Habs general manager pulled the trigger to acquire another young center in Alex Newhook from the Colorado Avalanche. To do so, Hughes sent picks 31 and 37 to Denver alongside left-handed defenseman Gianni Fairbrother.
While some may say this is a steep price to pay, a team only needs so many picks and Hughes was able to swing the trade without going too deep in his left-handed D prospect and without sacrificing a roster player.
With this trade, the Canadiens still have 9 picks in the upcoming draft and their reserve list is already well populated. Newhook was the 16th pick overall back in 2019, claimed by the Avalanche just after the Canadiens picked Cole Caufield. With this trade, the Habs now have 3 of the first 16 picks of the 2019 draft on their roster including Kirby Dach.
In two full seasons in the NHL, Newhook has had campaigns of 33 and 30 points and has yet to meet the lofty expectations Colorado had for him. In many ways this is a similar deal to the one that brought Dach to Montreal, at 22, Newhook still has plenty of time to develop and reach his potential, something he may be in a better position to do in Montreal, on a team that is in development mode rather than in win-now mode. The change of scenery worked wonders for Kirby Dach last season…For those saying that the Habs would have better chances to win with Dubois, that may very well be so for now, but the Canadiens are not in win-now mode. This is what we must remember, Newhook’s age fits in very well with Hughes’ plan.
Newhook is currently a RFA and chances are Hughes will sign him to a deal which will give him a chance to prove himself for a couple of years. With this addition, there are a lot of centers on the Montreal roster; Suzuki, Dach, Monahan, Dvorak, Evans, Newhook and Owen Beck likely to try and state his case at the upcoming camp, room will have to be made one way or another.
The Habs were also in the news this morning for making two new hires: Jim Ramsay, as Director, Sports Medicine, Performance and Head Athletic Therapist and Maxime Gauthier as Head Physiotherapist. Ramsay’s acquisition is particularly interesting since the man has worked for the New York Rangers for 28 years and his known as one of the best in the business. Interestingly, the Rangers were actually the least injured team in the league last season, a stark contrast to the Canadiens’ fortunes health wise.
Now, if we speculate further, could this trade also mean that the Canadiens are confident they are not picking a center tomorrow? Most mock draft have got Fantilli, Calsson and Smith off the board before the Canadiens take the stand, is Kent Hughes telling us his first-round pick will be a winger or a defender? Michkov, Leonard or Reinbacher? Or are the Canadiens contemplating trading down to let Philadelphia or Washington gamble on Michkov? Stay tuned, the answers are 27 hours away but who’s counting right?
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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