We finally know what Kent Hughes turned down for a second-line center, and it's unbelievable
Kent Hughes made it clear this offseason: Michael Hage is not available, and the Montreal Canadiens said no to one of the better centres in the league to prove it.
According to TSN insider Darren Dreger, the Blues insisted on Hage as part of any deal that would have sent Robert Thomas to Montreal.
Hughes wouldn't go there.
Thomas finished this season with 64 points in 64 games, including 25 goals and a +22 rating, all while carrying an $8.125 million cap hit.
That's a legitimate top-six centre who just turned 26. The Canadiens walked away from that.
It tells you everything about how untouchable Hage is in Kent Hughes' mind.
Hage returning to NCAA raises new questions about his Canadiens timeline
Hage is heading back to school next season instead of turning pro, which means the earliest the Canadiens realistically see him is the final stretch of the 2026-27 campaign.
That's a long time to hold on to an asset you won't deploy.
And still, Hughes said no to Thomas. You can draw your own conclusions there.
Montreal finished the regular season 48-24-10 with 106 points, ranking sixth overall in the NHL. The rebuild is no longer a rebuild.
The pressure to compete now is real.
Every time the Canadiens circle a big centre at the trade deadline or in the offseason, expect Hage's name to come up as the primary ask. It happened with Thomas. It'll happen with the next target too.
Dylan Larkin is older than Thomas and coming off a different profile of season. If Hughes said no to Thomas, the math on Larkin makes even less sense.
What this really signals is that the Canadiens believe Hage is a franchise-calibre piece. You don't turn down 64-point centres for prospects unless you're convinced you're protecting something special.
The question nobody has a clean answer to yet: what happens if Hage spends another full year in the NCAA and Montreal still needs a centre to compete deep into the playoffs?
-
That tension doesn't disappear because Hughes drew a line this summer. It just gets pushed into next season.
|
YESTERDAY
JUNE 6, 2026
| ||||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Mitch Marner | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| Tomas Hertl | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jordan Staal | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Shea Theodore | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Brayden McNabb | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Taylor Hall | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jordan Martinook | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Andrei Svechnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jackson Blake | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jack Eichel | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Seth Jarvis | - | 1 | 1 | |
| William Karlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Eric Robinson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jaccob Slavin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Logan Stankoven | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | - | - | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||