Hughes represented a multitude of NHL players including Patrice Bergeron, Kris Letang, Darnell Nurse, Sammy Blais, Alex Newhook, Colin White, Drake Batherson, Anthony Beauvillier, Marco Scandella, and Alexis Lafrenière.
Gorton was later hired by Geoff Molson to be executive vice president of hockey operations for the Montreal Canadiens, after having sacked general manager Marc Bergevin after the team had a historically disastrous start to the 2021–22 NHL season, and began a search for a replacement.
[7][8] Beginning a plan to revamp the team's roster, Hughes executed a series of trades in his first two months, parting with players Tyler Toffoli, Ben Chiarot, Brett Kulak and Artturi Lehkonen to secure new draft picks and prospects.
The Canadiens would draft Slovak winger Juraj Slafkovský first overall, departing from the longstanding consensus that had favoured Canadian centre Shane Wright as the topmost selection.
[15][16] With their own first round selection being fifth overall, the team opted to take Austrian EHC Kloten defenceman David Reinbacher over Russian SKA Saint Petersburg forward Matvei Michkov.
[21] His youngest son Jack plays collegiately for Northeastern University and was a second-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.