Kent Hughes considered acquiring another top goal scorer

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Elias Adaime
August 24, 2024 (4:59 PM)

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The general manager of the Montreal Canadiens, Kent Hughes, considered acquiring another top goal scorer.

This information comes from the documentary on the behind-the-scenes of the 2024 NHL Draft, released by the Montreal Canadiens last night.

«I would take Demidov, who has the potential to become a number one center, unlike the other [player], who is a top-6 winger capable of scoring goals.

Both are excellent players, and I'd be happy to draft either one of them.

I just believe the potential here [with Demidov] is to grab a possible future NHL star.»

- Billy Ryan

And all the other Montreal Canadiens scouts questioned also chose Demidov, with some saying no other player was close to him and that Demidov was in a class of his own.

It seems the choice for the Montreal Canadiens came down to Cayden Lindstrom and Ivan Demidov

This confirms that the decision indeed came down to two players for the Montreal Canadiens, and it's clear they were choosing between two forwards.

As for the other player mentioned, they are talking about a top-6 winger who is a goal scorer.

This seems to absolutely fit Cayden Lindstrom, who scored 27 goals and 19 assists last season in the WHL (in 32 games).

One might also consider Beckett Sennecke, who scored 27 goals and 41 assists last season in the OHL (in 63 games), but he is still slightly undersized.

A top-6 winger capable of scoring goals really sounds like Cayden Lindstrom, who was ultimately drafted 4th overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Let's also recall that Hughes received a massive trade offer at the draft:

We love it.

In any case, we highly recommend watching the full video.

It's clear that for Kent Hughes and the Montreal Canadiens, it was Ivan Demidov and Ivan Demidov only.