Kent Hughes hit a home run with this Canadiens trade

Kent Hughes just got a reminder of why he might be the best GM in the league right now, and it came from Chicago's own front office.

On Monday night, the Blackhawks moved the 4th overall pick, the 45th overall, and defenseman Louis Crevier to acquire Bowen Byram and Jordan Greenaway.

Crevier is 6-foot-8 and posted 25 points last season. The 4th overall pick. Forty-fifth overall. That is a serious price for a 25-year-old defenseman whose contract expires next summer.

By comparison, Hughes sent picks 16 and 17, plus Emil Heineman, to land Noah Dobson a year ago.

Dobson had posted 70 points the season before the trade, as Eric Engels noted Monday. Byram's career high, set this past year, was 42.

Dobson vs. Byram: the numbers that explain everything

Dobson is 26 years old. He's locked in at $9.5 million on the Canadiens' blue line. That deal looks expensive until you remember what Hughes actually gave up to get him.

Chicago gave up a top-five pick. Alone. For a player on a shorter leash than Dobson ever was.

Byram finished the regular season with 42 points in 82 games and carries a $6.25 million cap hit. Those numbers are solid. They are not 4th-overall-pick solid.

And here is the part that should make Blackhawks fans genuinely uncomfortable: that cap number evaporates next summer. Kyle Davidson essentially handed over Chicago's most valuable asset in this draft for a one-year contract that will cost way more next summer.

Think of it this way: Hughes bought a house in a rising market. Davidson rented one at peak prices with a one-year lease and handed over his savings to do it.

"Last year, Habs traded 16, 17 and Emil Heineman for 25-year-old Noah Dobson-a big, right-handed dman who had already had a 70-pt season.
The Hawks just moved 4th overall, 45 overall and Louis Crevier (6-foot-8 RHD who had 25 points this past season) for 25-year-old Bowen Byram (who had a career high 42 pts this past season) and Jordan Greenaway.
Wonder what that contract is going to look like (Byram's current deal expires next summer, so can be negotiated come July 1.)"

- Eric Engels

Dobson's regular season in Montreal was 47 points in 80 games. His playoff run went sideways, 1 point in 13 games, and the critiques were fair. But he is signed. He is locked in. He is a full-time piece of a team that finished sixth overall with a 48-24-10 record.

Byram posted 7 points in 13 playoff games for Chicago, and he did it on a roster that finished 31st in the league at 29-39-14.

One player performed in the playoffs on a bad team. The other struggled in the playoffs on a good one. Neither story is finished.

What makes Hughes look brilliant here is not just the price. It is the market context. Hughes pulled off his deal when Dobson's value was at its ceiling, before the 70-point player had a soft season that brought the price down.

Davidson made his move this week, in a market where the price of a left-shot defenseman in his mid-twenties is fully understood by every GM in the league.

The Byram deal might still work. He's young, he can skate, and a full season in Chicago's system under Jeff Blashill could unlock something. But the Blackhawks are still rebuilding, still sitting at the bottom of the league, and now they have one fewer lottery-range pick to show for it.

The real question is what Byram's next contract looks like. If Kyle Davidson cannot lock him up long-term, this trade goes from risky to genuinely painful.