Kent Hughes is staying out of the unrestricted free-agent pool this July 1, saying the market doesn’t offer the kind of top talent Montreal wants. With roster flexibility tight and free-agent timing controlled by sellers, the Canadiens GM’s focus remains on tr
For Montreal Canadiens fans hoping this July 1 turns into a grand free-agency splash, the message from Kent Hughes is blunt: he won’t be making waves in the unrestricted pool.
This year’s market, at least as Hughes sees it, doesn’t contain the difference-makers Montreal is targeting. And with players available for unrestricted deals asking for money over more term than Hughes is willing to put on the scale, he’s not inclined to pay that kind of premium.
There’s also a bigger reason behind the restraint. The Canadiens are coming off an appearance in the Eastern Conference Final. and Hughes’ plan isn’t built around throwing money at rentals. Montreal is set to welcome talent soon. and the organization isn’t looking to suddenly clog its pipeline with stopgaps—especially when it wants room for premium depth and the kind of players already moving up through its system.
That connects directly to a simple roster pressure: if Montreal signs a Brandon Duhaime. it likely won’t have space for Florian Xhekaj soon after. Xhekaj. the Canadiens’ priority in this discussion. is an important piece—one Hughes isn’t trying to “placeholder” his way around. The Canadiens won’t convince the 29-year-old. six-foot-two. 210-pound soon-to-be-former Washington Capitals player to take a one-year deal purely to hold a spot when he could be a mainstay elsewhere.
Duhaime is not the only name in the picture. There’s only one Mason Marchment available—described here as a 50ish-point, six-foot-five, 212-pound winger who plays mean. And the Canadiens “suspect” they could satisfy his contract demands if they decided he fit. But they won’t have the lane to themselves.
Late on Tuesday afternoon, it was suggested that Marchment has his eyes on another opportunity. With that uncertainty hanging over what’s left in the pool. there isn’t much appeal left on the free-agent avenue for Montreal—an avenue Hughes never appeared to be counting on as the path to immediate improvement or long-term stability.
Trade is the road Montreal is emphasizing.
Hughes has been pushing extremely hard to make a rewarding one, and the groundwork for that posture has already shown itself. Last week, the Canadiens GM’s comments made it clear he expected to keep moving—then he did exactly that in a way that also reveals the limits he’s working inside.
After trading up in the first round of the NHL Draft to select pugnacious pugilist Gleb Pugachyov 26th overall. Hughes said. “I’m confident we’re going to be able to do something.” He also added. “I can’t tell you when. but I feel like we’re in a position to do it.” When pressed on the timing. his answer was direct: “We’ll just do it when it makes sense.”.
Even with that confidence, there’s a reality Hughes acknowledged that keeps the calendar from being his alone.
“If you’re completely up to him, it would be done already,” the situation suggests. But as Hughes explained. “When you’re buying. the seller controls.” He contrasted Montreal’s earlier approach with where they are now: “When I got here. we were selling. and so we controlled the timeline on things. When you’re buying, you just have to keep calling and keep calling. That’s what we’ve done in the past when we’ve made the trades that we’ve made.”.
“I might get frustrated, but I’m not going to stop calling.”
The dates Hughes has in mind—or at least the windows where something could arrive—are wide. He could land a top-six forward or top-four defenceman either Wednesday, Thursday, the middle of August, the end of November, or right before the 2027 NHL trade deadline.
In the meantime, Montreal could still make moves that create space.
Hughes already did some of that work Monday, trading Brendan Gallagher to Vancouver. He also decided to not tender Joe Veleno a qualifying offer, allowing the depth centre to pursue unrestricted free agency. Those decisions leave the Canadiens with 12 forwards on the roster and “little space” for NHL hopefuls—specifically Owen Beck and Jared Davidson—alongside Xhekaj.
So if anything is coming on the free-agency front, it’s more likely to come with roster clearing than with a headline signing. The hope inside the organization is still that Hughes can keep opening the door for the players he believes fit the team’s long-term identity.
There’s also the defensive logjam. Hughes has young defencemen pushing up a loaded depth chart, and the expectation is that something could shake loose there. Even if the top of the free-agent list doesn’t offer what Montreal wants, structural movement in the lineup can do what cash spending can’t.
Goal is another place the timing could shift instantly.
Samuel Montembeault is under contract with the Canadiens for one more year at $3.15 million. but his spot isn’t treated as assured. Hughes could hold Montembeault while buying time for Jacob Fowler in the American Hockey League. The player. though. is described as wanting a chance to redeem his value ahead of his next contract. which could keep Fowler as part of a push rather than a holding pattern. The other possibility is that Hughes ships him west to give him that opportunity sooner.
The current view is that Hughes is not necessarily afraid to leave Montreal’s net in the hands of 25-year-old Jakub Dobes and Fowler. Still, it’s not presented as imminent. It’s presented as conditional—because “that could change instantaneously.”
And Montreal may have another negotiation ready to move quickly, even if the first day of July 1 doesn’t deliver a deal.
Ivan Demidov is in line for a contract extension. with the detail that he led all NHL rookies in scoring this past season. The expectation is not that Demidov signs on the first day he’s eligible to sign one on Wednesday. but the possibility of it coming together quickly is explicitly left open. The comparison offered is that the process between the Canadiens and Lane Hutson was much more drawn out—Hutson could have signed last July but only ended up signing last October.
Demidov’s track could be different.
Dobes also has extension eligibility as of Wednesday. But that negotiation may take longer to settle than Demidov’s, partly because of Dobes’ status as a 2027 restricted free agent who’s arbitration eligible.
All of that means July 1 itself is not expected to be a day filled with contract announcements, and the article’s conclusion is straightforward: barring a trade or two, that’s part of why Montreal’s calendar looks quiet.
Hughes isn’t making huge waves in the free-agent pool—because for Montreal, the biggest moves are still expected to arrive through trades, roster openings, and negotiations that don’t depend on what the market looks like at noon on July 1.
Kent Hughes Montreal Canadiens unrestricted free agency July 1 Florian Xhekaj Brandon Duhaime Mason Marchment Brendan Gallagher Joe Veleno Samuel Montembeault Jacob Fowler Jakub Dobes Ivan Demidov Gleb Pugachyov