Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes made his big move days before the 2025 trade deadline, and it obviously wasn’t even a trade. It’s questionable it was even “big” to be honest. However, the team’s lack of activity at the deadline itself has to nevertheless be commended taking everything into account.
Evans Stays in the Fold
The Canadiens obviously re-signed fourth-line centre Jake Evans to a four-year deal, when many had anticipated the Habs moving him and some combination if not all of their other pending unrestricted free agents (Joel Armia, Christian Dvorak, Michael Pezzetta and David Savard). Critics of the decision and Evans’ proponents can go back and forth debating his and the deal’s merits.
However, criticizing Hughes is hard here even if you fall squarely on the side of the fence that is totally against committing to a forward who has technically still not yet scored 30 points in any one season, up until he turns 33. True, the GM may have legitimately tried to make a few moves and get something for the players above, who will each almost certainly walk come July, only to fail. In not doing anything (maybe in spite of himself), he committed to this specific roster.
Trading away anyone for futures of any kind would have run counter to what must be the team’s primary goal at this point: making the playoffs. Now one point out of the second wild-card spot, with one more game played than the eighth-place Ottawa Senators, the Canadiens suddenly have a half-decent chance to make it.
It won’t be easy and realistically they still won’t make it, but the end result is almost inconsequential. By re-signing his biggest trade chip in Evans, Hughes effectively “gave up” a shot at a first-round pick, when fellow-centre Scott Laughton, who has slightly weaker offensive stats, earned the Philadelphia Flyers that first (and a second-tier prospect). Armia, who as recently as last season was in the American Hockey League, wasn’t going to get anywhere close to that, at least not alone. And, if Armia wasn’t, neither Dvorak nor Pezzetta were going to garner much interest if at all.
Canadiens Keep the Team Together
Savard might have, in all honesty if only based on what some other depth defensemen were fetching (*cough* Brian Dumoulin *cough*). However, with fellow-defenseman Kaiden Guhle injured, trading him would have pretty much amounted to “giving up” on the playoffs, not that Savard is a critical component to the team’s success, especially once Guhle returns. However, Hughes trading him would have sent a message to everyone left that he doesn’t believe the Canadiens can make it, because it makes more sense to get whatever they can before they lose him for nothing.
Honestly, if you’re foregoing a potential first to re-sign Evans, it makes the most sense to forego whatever lesser amount you can get for Savard just to see how far this team in its current incarnation can go. It may not be all that far, but, in re-signing Evans, you’re signalling an intent to a) go for “it” and b) move past the stage of the rebuild where you’re selling off assets each season. Whether or not you believe Evans will remain a key contributor on this team four years down the road is irrelevant. It’s all about Hughes’ intent here, and, while some can choose to interpret the fact he also didn’t add to the roster at the deadline as a lack of confidence in his roster, it’s not like this team is one or two pieces away from contending. However, in at least Hughes’ mind, Evans is one less piece he needs to worry about as this team’s window to contend begins to open.
Related: Canadiens Signal Intent to Go for it by Re-Signing Evans Ahead of Deadline
Hughes could very well be wrong about Evans, but he was right in how he approached the deadline in the wake of the decision to re-sign the forward. Now the focus can shift to the playoff race and how the Canadiens fare down the home stretch.
Now, to be perfectly clear, the Canadiens don’t need to make the playoffs for the season to be a success, even based on how Hughes just stood pat. Considering the Habs are where management envisioned them as being, at least in terms of what they told the media ahead of the season, it kind of already is a success. It doesn’t matter how the final 20 or so games go. With the Habs firmly “in the mix,” those games will be meaningful. And, in doing nothing, so were Hughes’ actions this deadline.
Incredibly so. Doing nothing was in a word a huge statement. And sometimes words do speak louder than actions.
