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Kent Hughes turned down an interview for the Penguins GM job

MONTREAL, QC - JULY 07: Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes addresses the crowd during the first round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft on July 07, 2022 at Bell Centre in Montreal, QC (Photo by David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire)

Kent Hughes has an interesting résumé.

He was a player’s agent before becoming GM of the Montreal Canadiens, and his experience helps him on many levels.

In fact, Hughes was on the podcast of Torrey Mitchell, who is his former client and who once played for the Habs… And Hughes revealed some information worth sharing.

Speaking of his past, Hughes said he turned down an interview to become GM of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

At the time, he thought it was a fine challenge…

But he wasn’t interested in moving his family to Pittsburgh because he didn’t want his wife to be lonely:

It probably would have been nice, but I didn’t want to tell my wife to move to Pittsburgh when I was going to be traveling 200 days a year and she didn’t know anyone. – Kent Hughes

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When did all this happen?

The question arises, because the Penguins changed GMs in 2014 and 2021.

In 2014, Jim Rutherford took over from Jason Botherill (who was there on an interim basis after Ray Shero was fired)…

And in 2021, Ron Hextall arrived at the helm to replace Patrik Allvin (who was also there on an interim basis after Jim Rutherford was fired).

On the other hand, he tells Torrey Mitchell that he was considering becoming GM when Mitchell started thinking about retirement… And Mitchell hung up his skates after the 2018-2019 season, when he played in Lausanne, Switzerland.

It’s intriguing.

But ultimately, it was Jeff Gorton who really pushed him to change his mind.

Gorton tried to lure him when he was GM in New York, and it was also Gorton who repeatedly asked him if he was interested in the job in Montreal, before he got it in 2022.

Time is of the essence, as they say!

Especially for the Habs organization, because Kent Hughes has been doing a great job since he took over.

Overtime

– Nice transaction for the Sharks.

– A real one!

– Seen the same…

– The official unveiling will take place tomorrow.

– Oh?