Montreal Canadiens sign GM Hughes, executive Gorton to multi-year extensions
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MONTREAL – The Montreal Canadiens have signed general manager Kent Hughes and hockey operations executive Jeff Gorton to multi-year contract extensions, the NHL club announced Tuesday.
The club also announced Gorton would start a new role as president of hockey operations. Hughes and Gorton were in the final year of their contracts.
Hughes and Gorton have presided over an impressive turnaround in Montreal, with the team defying expectations by returning to the playoffs last season after a three-year absence.
“I am very pleased that Jeff and Kent have committed to the Montreal Canadiens for an additional five years,” team owner Geoff Molson said in a release announcing the moves. “Their commitment to building a world-class organization has been unrelenting and will only get better as we progress in the years to come.”
The Canadiens have built an impressive young core that includes captain Nick Suzuki, forward Juraj Slafkovsky, promising rookie Ivan Demidov and defenceman Lane Hutson — last season’s rookie of the year who signed a 70.8-million-dollar, eight-year contract extension on Monday.
Gorton was general manager of the New York Rangers from 2015 until May 2021. He joined the Canadiens as executive vice-president of hockey operations later that year after the Canadiens fired GM Marc Bergevin and other members of the front office following a 6-15-2 start to the 2021-22 season.
He established the Canadiens’ first analytics department and beefed up the team’s front office with the additions of Hughes, director of hockey development Adam Nicholas, co-director of amateur scouting Nick Bobrov, and special adviser Vincent Lecavalier.
“We believe our team has made significant progress and we look forward to building on the foundation in place and competing at a high level for years to come,” Gorton said in the release.
Hughes, who is from Montreal, was named GM in January 2022. One of his first moves was hiring head coach Martin St. Louis. The 50-year-old from Laval, Que., who was a six-time all-star as a player, was a finalist for the NHL’s coach of the year award last season for his part in the Canadiens’ turnaround.
“Geoff Molson’s support has been essential to the work Jeff and I have done, and I would like to thank him for his trust and support in us,” Hughes said in a release. “We have big ambitions for this team, and for that reason, we consider the work that was done so far as just the beginning.”
The Canadiens had a 2-1-0 record to start the 2025-26 season heading into their home opener Tuesday night against Seattle.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 14, 2025.