Hughes on round 1: ‘I’d say it went perfectly’

LAS VEGAS – As Kent Hughes tells it, the Canadiens hit the jackpot during Round 1 of the 2024 NHL Draft in Vegas.

The Habs general manager had a big smile on his face during his closing media appearance at Sphere after adding forwards Ivan Demidov and Michael Hage to the team’s talent pool on Friday.

Here are some highlights from the GM’s third year, and the team’s two first-round picks.

Please note that some answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.

Hughes on adding offense in Round 1:

We said that and I discussed that in the year-end meetings, that we needed to give our group more offensive firepower. We always knew that, it’s not like we woke up at some point this year and realized that. We knew that Rome wasn’t built in a day and that it was a process for us. We already knew about Demidov last year, before we made our pick last year we were already pretty excited about this guy depending on where we would finish in the regular season. (…) Of all the ways things could have played out today, this was option 1 for us. I’d say it fell perfectly.

Hughes on whether the team is close to trade picks on Day 2:

I don’t know if it’s close, but we’re going to go back, debrief, and try to sleep instead of thinking about the next thing. We’re not done trying yet.

Demidov on his membership of the Canadiens:

Today I met Martin St-Louis, and it’s incredible… people like St-Louis, Vincent Lecavalier, I played NHL 07 with those guys, and now I’m shaking their hands. It is cool.

Demidov when he heard his name mentioned by Celine Dion:

It’s unbelievable. It’s like a book. Like a movie. It’s… me. I know who it is, I saw the movie Titanic.

Demidov on whether he’s ready to be a game-changer for Montreal:

I think so, yeah. My sports idol is Kobe Bryant and this season I tried to use his (…) killer instinct, and I think I won a lot of games and scored a lot of winning goals. I think I can be a game-changer for Montreal.

Hage about the role his late father played in his development:

As a child he pushed me hard and had high expectations of me. I think that’s why I hold myself to such a high standard, because of the hard push he’s given me, and I expect a lot from myself. This year especially, I want to continue to do everything as if he is watching, as best as I can. The most important thing with him was that I was always in control of what I could control. When you worry about what you can control, you often do much better, and things usually turn out much better.

Hage about speaking French:

(In French) My entire family, my parents, were born in Quebec. I was born in Oakville, ON, but from the age of 4 to 12 I attended a French school. Then I went to a hockey school that was English, but I still speak French with my grandparents when I visit Montreal. It’s a little rusty, but I’m trying.