Kent Hughes, Jeff Gorton and Martin St-Louis live in the same building, and that closeness explains a lot about how the Canadiens are run.
"We all live in the same building, it's like a little fraternity for 50 something year olds," Hughes said. "We have a little pub we go to."
Then came the line that says the most. "We break down games and solve the world's problems."
That's Montreal's decision-making in a nutshell. The GM, the hockey operations boss and the coach are constantly together, and big conversations don't wait for a scheduled meeting.
The group came together fast. Hughes was hired in January 2022, and St-Louis took over behind the bench weeks later. They've stayed united through every stage of the rebuild since.
The plan was clear from the start: build around young talent. Nick Suzuki, 27, has nine points in seven games, while Cole Caufield, Lane Hutson and Juraj Slafkovsky give the core speed and skill.
When the time came to add, they went bold. Noah Dobson now anchors the blue line on a $9,500,000 cap hit.
Martin St-Louis' Canadiens grow up fast under a united front office
Elliotte Friedman called Montreal a "team on the way up," with Hutson and Caufield "very happy and thriving there."
The aggression hasn't stopped either. Montreal offered a five-piece package for Kirill Marchenko and has been chasing Dylan Larkin, per Frank Seravalli.
Not everything lands. The Canadiens are 3-3-1 after a 5-4 loss in Washington, and Samuel Montembeault's injury adds a fresh test.
This structure is exactly why Montreal moved so quickly. When the GM, the hockey boss and the coach agree, decisions happen fast and nobody second-guesses each other in public.
It's like a family business run from the kitchen table. The big calls get made over coffee, not in boardrooms.
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The Canadiens host Buffalo on Saturday. Expect the postgame breakdown to continue over a pint.
The pub may be small. The decisions coming out of it are shaping a contender, and the rest of the league is starting to notice.
Is the Canadiens' close-knit front office the key to their rebuild?
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