A few hours before the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, Kent Hughes struck another deal by acquiring forward Alex Newhook. Not surprisingly, fans are delighted with his arrival, as he has enormous potential and didn't cost much. However, we've just learned that he could have arrived in Montreal much sooner. Indeed, according to Elliotte Friedman, Kent Hughes almost got his hands on him during the 2021-22 season twice rather than once. First, he was part of the negotiations for Arturri Lehkonen. As much as we love the young Justin Barron, Newhook would have been quite a catch, but the Avalanche did well to keep him since they won the Stanley Cup a few months later. Secondly, Newhook was Hughes' target before acquiring Kirby Dach. For reasons unknown, the Habs' GM took another route and acquired the current number 77. Now awaiting the 2023-24 season, the CH has all three players - Justin Barron, Alex Newhook and Kirby Dach. Not bad, eh? <blockquote class=twitter-tweet><p lang=en dir=ltr>Wednesday morning 32 Thoughts news pod...also featuring a quick chat with Nashville GM Barry Trotz. Links to your preferred platform here: <a href=https://t.co/io7Mr1QEpm>https://t.co/io7Mr1QEpm</a> Enjoy!- Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) <a href=https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1674039997966557186?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>June 28, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src=https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js charset=utf-8> <a href='https://www.danslescoulisses.com/alex-newhook-il-y-a-eu-des-discussions-avec-le-canadien-il-y-a-un-an/' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Credit: DLC</a>