The Montreal Canadiens announced five-year contract extensions for GM Kent Hughes and the newly promoted president of hockey operations, Jeff Gorton.
Gorton and Hughes were in the final year of their contracts and made significant changes to the Canadiens’ roster and hockey operations department.
“Their commitment to building a world class organization has been unrelenting and will only get better as we progress in the years to come,” Canadiens owner Geoff Molson said in a news release. “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.”
Since the end of last season, the Canadiens acquired 25-year-old defenseman Noah Dobson to anchor the right side of the blueline on an eight-year deal, traded for right winger Zack Bolduc and re-signed Calder Trophy winner Lane Hutson to an eight-year contract extension.
Those moves followed the team making the playoffs for the first time since 2021, losing in the first round. It was the first time Hughes made the playoffs as Canadiens GM, having joined the team on Jan. 18, 2022. He quickly replaced coach Dominique Ducharme with current bench boss Martin St-Louis in 2021-22.
Gorton, who joined the team on Nov. 28, 2021, as executive VP of hockey operations, established the Canadiens’ first analytics department and also hired Hughes, as well as co-director of amateur scouting Nick Bobrov and special advisor to hockey operations, Vincent Lecavalier.
“We believe our team has made significant progress, and we look forward to building on the foundation in place and competing at a high level for years to come,” Gorton said in the announcement. “I would also like to acknowledge that this announcement is a reflection on the tireless work and efforts our entire staff has put in.”
Montreal has a core group signed through at least 2030, including captain Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Dobson, Kaiden Guhle and Hutson. Their young players include Ivan Demidov and prospects David Reinbacher, Michael Hage and Jacob Fowler.
As for this season, the Canadiens have about $5.7 million in cap space with one first-rounder and two second-rounders as part of their 2026 draft picks. Montreal is 2-1-0 to start the campaign.
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