MONTREAL -- Kent Hughes has become the 18th general manager of the Montreal Canadiens.
Habs owner, president and CEO Geoff Molson made the announcement Tuesday morning, and Hughes signed a five-year contract with the team.
The 51-year-old's name appeared on an early long list, according to TSN analyst Pierre LeBrun. Hughes recently re-emerged as a candidate for the job, according to LeBrun.
"We are very excited to add Kent Hughes to our organization. Kent is highly-respected in the hockey world, having built an excellent reputation as an NHL player agent for over 25 years now," said Molson in a statement.
The sports-agent-turned-GM represents many Quebec NHL stars including Boston Bruins' Patrice Bergeron, Pittsburgh Penguins' Kris Letang and New York Rangers' Sammy Blais. Hughes was previously affiliated with MFive Sports, which merged with Quartexx in 2016.
He is part of the Quebec-based firm: Quartexx Management.
Hughes was one of three candidates the Habs were considering along with Danny Briere and Mathieu Darche.
He will work alongside Jeff Gorton, who was named VP of hockey operations in December.
"The process of finding our new general manager afforded us the opportunity to meet a number of extremely qualified candidates," said Gorton. "Kent stood out, and we believe he is the right person to be the general manager of the Canadiens. We also believe that Kent's experience as an agent will be a great asset to the organization."
Hughes grew up on Montreal's West Island suburb of Beaconsfield and has been living in the Boston area for the past two decades.
He will address the media Wednesday.
Hughes replaces former general manager Marc Bergevin, who was fired Nov. 28 following Montreal's disastrous start to the 2021-22 season.
Molson said after firing Bergevin that the new GM would need to be bilingual and part of the team's diversity plan, and there were rumours that the team may appoint a female or person of colour for the job.
Hughes takes over as the Habs sit at the bottom of the NHL with 19 points after 37 games. Montreal lost to fellow basement dwellers the Arizona Coyotes 5-2 on Monday night.
- With files from The Canadian Press
