The Montreal Canadiens have made tremendous strides in their rebuilding process under general manager Kent Hughes and team president Jeff Gorton, and they're being rewarded with new multiyear contracts to remain in place.
On Tuesday, the Canadiens announced that both Hughes and Gorton had been extended for five years each, and they'll be able to continue the work that saw the franchise return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season for the first time since 2021.
“I am very pleased that Jeff and Kent have committed to the Montreal Canadiens for an additional five years.” Canadiens owner Geoff Molson said in a statement via NHL.com, “I would like to thank Jeff and Kent for taking this team and organization to where it is today, full of talent, size, and speed, with a support structure that is second to none, an objective from Day 1. I look forward to many more years working with them.”
Hughes expressed his gratitude to Molson while promising that the work that he and Gorton have already completed is only at the beginning stage.
“Geoff Molson's support has been essential to the work Jeff and I have done, and I would like to thank him for his trust and support in us. We have big ambitions for this team, and for that reason, we consider the work that was done so far as just the beginning,” Hughes said. “Creating an environment that benefits both individual and collective player development remains our top priority. We're encouraged by the progress the team's made, but we're also committed to staying patient and calculated in our actions, trusting the process of our long-term plan.”
The Montreal Canadiens returned to the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season
It also came on the heels of the news that Hughes had just re-signed reigning Calder Trophy winner Lane Hutson to a new eight-year, $70.8 million contract extension, ensuring that one of the best young blue-liners in the NHL today will remain with the Canadiens throughout the prime of his career.
Thanks to a successful regular season in 2024-25, the Canadiens earned the final Wild Card berth in the Eastern Conference and returned to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2021.
The emergence of Hutson, combined with the clutch play of young players like Cole Caufield and Sam Montembeault, has propelled the Canadiens forward and put the rest of the Atlantic Division on notice that they're for real.
If things continue in an upward trajectory with Hughes and Gorton at the forefront of things, there could be more playoff success in the team's future.
