The Montreal Canadiens announced Tuesday that the team has agreed to multi-year contract extensions with general manager Kent Hughes and executive vice president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton.
The team also announced that Gorton as their new President of Hockey Operations.
“I am very pleased that Jeff and Kent have committed to the Montreal Canadiens for an additional five years. Their commitment to building a world class organization has been unrelenting and will only get better as we progress in the years to come,” said owner Geoff Molson in a statement.
” I would like to thank Jeff and Kent for taking this team and organization to where it is today, full of talent, size and speed with a support structure that is second to none, an objective from day one. I look forward to many more years working with them.”
The Canadiens hired Gorton in November of 2021, while Hughes was brought on board in January of 2022.
Since their arrival, the duo has led the team’s rebuild with draft picks like Juraj Slafkovsky, Lane Hutson and Ivan Demidov, while signing Slafkovsky, Hutson, and Cole Caufield to long-term contracts.
Under their leadership, the team also brought in Martin St-Louis as head coach, helping guide the Canadiens to the post-season this past spring for the first time since 2021.
Prior to joining the Canadiens, Hughes was a player agent for Quartexx Management based in Montreal.
The 55-year-old Montreal native is the 18th general manager for the Canadiens in the team’s 116-year history.
Gorton previously served as general manager of the New York Rangers from 2015 to 2021 and also served as the Rangers’ assistant GM for four seasons prior to his promotion to GM.
