Montreal Canadiens GM Kent Hughes is looking like an absolute GENIUS after this one TRADE

PUBLICATION

Ryan
January 3, 2023 (5:30 PM)

SHARE THIS STORY

The Montreal Canadiens hired Kent Hughes to take over as General Manager of the Habs on January 18th, 2022. While they have not become an elite team yet, he has made some moves that have fans excited and even some teams terrified.

He has made quite a few moves since taking over as General Manager, and made a few shocking choices, like the decision to take Juraj Slafkovsky over Shane Wright with the first overall pick.

But whether that pans out or not, one of his decisions is looking like a runaway steal. We know the 2023 National Hockey League entry draft is projected to be one of the most stacked since the 2015 draft, and while the Montreal Canadiens won the draft lottery in 2022 to select first overall, with them being near the bottom of the standings, they have another shot at it this year. But one decision made by Hughes has at the moment given them an extra opportunity at that first overall pick that could land them Connor Bedard.

On March 16th, Hughes dealt defenceman Ben Chiarot to the Florida Panthers in exchange for a prospect and two conditional draft picks. The conditions on those picks were:

The Panthers 1st round pick in 2022 is top 10 protected. In the event that the Panthers retain their 2022 1st round pick, they will no longer own their 2023 1st round pick, and Montreal would instead get their 2024 1st round pick.

Result: Montreal receives Florida's 2023 1st round pick.

Per capfriendly.com

The Florida Panthers ran away with the Atlantic Division last season, so when the deal was made the Panthers obviously thought they would not be a lottery team, but almost half way through the season, the Panthers are sitting second last in the Atlantic and are 3-7-0 in their last ten.

The Panthers made a trade for Matthew Tkachuk in the offseason, who has preformed very well for the Panthers, but was losing Mackenzie Weegar and Jonathan Huberdeau just too much for them to overcome?

All the Panthers can do now is hope they can fight back into a playoff spot so they don't have to suffer the same fate as when Toronto traded the eventual second overall pick for Phil Kessel, or Ottawa trading away the 4th overall Bowen Byram pick for Matt Duchene.