WOW: Kent Hughes pulled off an insane home run trade and robbed the Pittsburgh Penguins
When Kent Hughes traded Jeff Petry and Ryan Poehling to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Michael Matheson and a fourth-round pick in the 2023 draft in the summer of 2022, Canadiens fans were generally satisfied with the transaction.
It was known that Petry wanted to leave Montreal and that Poehling had pretty much reached his ceiling within the organization. However, it must be admitted that almost two years later, this trade is a real home run by the Canadiens' GM.
As reported by GoNordiques.com, the statistics, but especially the season Matheson is having with the Canadiens this year, say it all.
At the time of writing, the Quebecois defenseman has collected 43 points in 58 games. As Conzta Rontzocos mentions on his X account, he is on track for a 61-point season, while Petry's best production with the Canadiens was 46 points during the 2018-2019 season.
Let's just say Kent Hughes managed to find a real quarterback for the power play and that with the chemistry that has been happening between Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Juraj Slafkovsky in recent weeks, Matheson could greatly benefit from it to collect even more points and become the first Canadiens defenseman to reach the 60-point mark in a season.
The last one was P.K. Subban in 2014-2015, and he was a Norris Trophy candidate that season.
But what's interesting here is that with the pick obtained from the Penguins in the transaction, the Canadiens selected a certain Bogdan Konyushkov, a prospect who is increasingly attracting the organization's attention.
The Russian defenseman excels this season in the KHL, and it would not be surprising to see him land in Montreal very soon.
Meanwhile, Jeff Petry has only collected 15 points, including just two in 44 games with the Detroit Red Wings this year. He was even scratched from the lineup for some games while he was healthy.
Hats off to Kent!
He has 2 more seasons left on his contract at a very reasonable AAV of $4,875,000.
| POLL | ||
What do you think Mike Matheson is worth? | ||
| 1st rd pick | 310 | 46.1 % |
| 2nd rd pick | 67 | 10 % |
| Way more than a 1st round pick | 276 | 41 % |
| Less than a 2nd round pick | 20 | 3 % |
| List of polls | ||
