Kent Hughes Trades Paying Off Big Time For Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Playoffs

After splitting the first two games of their second round series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres headed north to the Bell Centre for a Sunday night battle in front of a raucous crowd.

Buffalo quieted the crowd less than a minute into the game thanks to forward Tage Thompson, was looking to bounce back after a rough performance in Game 2. Montreal bounced back later in the period through Alex Newhook, his fourth of the postseason and third in his last two games as the two teams headed back to the dressing room knotted up at 1-1 after 20 minutes.

From there, Montreal took complete control of the game, adding three in the second period and two in the third, walking away with a 6-2 win on home ice and taking a 2-1 series lead. A big reason for Montreal's success, not only on Sunday night, but throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs so far, is the play of two forwards acquired by General Manager Kent Hughes two years apart - Alex Newhook and Zachary Bolduc.

Montreal Canadiens reaping the rewards of two Kent Hughes trades

The Stanley Cup Playoffs, a stage that every hockey player dreams of playing on growing up and for teams to have success in their chase for the game's greatest prize, they need all 12 forwards, six defenseman and starting netminder to deliver. Whether that be producing offensively, making a big, timely hit or a smart play on the defensive side of the puck, if you're going to win the Stanley Cup, you need everyone to contribute.

For the Montreal Canadiens, everything seems to be clicking right now, but there's two trades that are standing out as big wins for General Manager Kent Hughes and fans are very happy with what they're seeing over the past three weeks from the aforementioned Alex Newhook and Zachary Bolduc, both of whom have registered six points in ten games thus far.

In 2023, Kent Hughes went out onto the trade market in search of young forward who could have the potential to grow into a top-six role as his ceiling, or at worst, a reliable middle-six option for head coach Martin St. Louis. One day before the start of the NHL Entry Draft, the Canadiens acquired the rights to restricted free agent forward Alex Newhook in exchange for defensive prospect Gianni Fairbrother, along with a first and second round pick in that year's draft.

Newhook impressed in his first season with the Canadiens, registering 34 points in 55 games, but missed 27 games over a two-plus month span due to a high ankle sprain. The St. John's, Newfoundland native followed that up with 26 points in 82 contests last year and in his third year with the club (2025-26), he could have set a new career-highs in goals and points if it wasn't for an ankle fracture suffered back in November, which caused him to miss a little over three months.

Newhook had a relatively quiet start to the postseason, but ever since Game 7 of the first round, he's managed to get to that next level, something Martin St. Louis and the rest of the Canadiens coaching staff are pleased to see. In his last four games, Newhook has scored five goals and now leads the Canadiens in that category.

Last summer, the Canadiens had their sights set on the St. Louis Blues, with reports indicating that Kent Hughes was interested in forward Jordan Kyrou, as were a number of other teams around the National Hockey League. Unfortunately for the Canadiens, they were unable to get a deal done involving Kyrou before Canada Day as his no-trade clause (NTC) kicked in, but they were able to acquire another Blues forward on that day.

As many teams were looking to get their hands on the top available free agents, Kent Hughes added some more youth in that deal with St. Louis, acquiring Trois-Rivieres, Quebec native Zachary Bolduc in exchange for defensive prospect Logan Mailloux. Mailloux, who made his seven appearances with the Canadiens during the 2024-25 season, became available due to Montreal's trade less than a week prior with the New York Islanders involving Noah Dobson.

Bolduc had his ups and downs during the regular season, however his play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs is proving why Kent Hughes made the right decision to bring him to La Belle Province nearly 12 months ago. The 23-year-old hasn't been afraid to get into the dirty areas and stir things up a bit. Sunday night was no exception - 16 penalty minutes, three roughing minors and a ten minute misconduct, but it's his second period goal that was crucial in helping Montreal pick up the win.

As we inch closer to the 24 hour mark until puck drop on Game 4 between Montreal and Buffalo, the Canadiens are sure hoping that they can get another performance like Sunday night's from Alex Newhook and Zachary Bolduc as they can push the Sabres to the brink of elimination. Puck drop set for 7 pm ET tomorrow night on CBC and Sportsnet.