Kent Hughes can add a third 1st round pick and the opportunity is real

It's already common knowledge, Kent Hughes is very interested in adding a third first round pick for the 2023 draft.

As Montreal Hockey Now's Marco D'Amico shows, there is a real opportunity for the CH GM to add this famous pick in the next few weeks.

In a recent TSN interview, TSN analyst and former NHL general manager Craig Button revealed his estimates on the current market for first round picks.

While some observers believe that first round picks for 2023 may be nearly impossible to acquire, given the immense depth of this draft, Button believes that teams will not be so stingy with their first round picks, especially those teams that stand out from the pack.

Among the players potentially likely to bring that first pick back to the Habs, we can immediately place the names of Sean Monahan and Joel Edmundson in the discussion. These two players are possible targets that Hughes would like to trade for between now and the trade deadline.

We can also add Josh Anderson's name in the picture, because even if we know that the GM is very greedy for his power forward, if a team offers the desired price to Hughes, it is possible that he will get traded, a bit like Artturi Lehkonen last year.

According to information obtained by Montreal Hockey Now, the parity in the Wild Card race, especially in the Eastern Conference, is forcing general managers to look to make acquisitions. The longer they wait, the better positioned the sellers are in negotiations to capitalize on returns in trades.

The current market is really in stand-by mode, but there's no denying that it will all come out at some point. The longer it takes, the closer we get to the trade deadline, the more the balance of power will shift from buyers to sellers and the more the market will explode.

This will allow the Habs management to maximize the value of their players on the market and possibly get a first round pick in 2023 for one of their assets to sell.

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