Hughes on Matheson: ‘Mike is a five-star human being’

MONTREAL — General manager Kent Hughes met the media on Saturday afternoon via Zoom after trading Jeff Petry and Ryan Poehling to the Penguins in exchange for Mike Matheson.

Hughes also signed Rem Pitlick to a two-year, one-way contract extension.

Here are a few highlights from his press conference:

Hughes on acquiring a veteran blueliner to replace Petry:

In any trade that we were going to contemplate with Pittsburgh or any other team that involved Jeff Petry, one of the elements that had to either come in the trade or we had to be able to thereafter acquire was a defenseman. Mike Matheson is a defenseman who was playing top-4 minutes in Pittsburgh that brings a lot of the qualities that we lose in a Jeff Petry in terms of his ability to transport the puck. Last season, Mike was in the 90th percentile for goals in the NHL at 5-on-5 per 60 minutes. He was 85th percentile in points. He scored five game-winning goals, and almost all of his offensive production came at even-strength. I also know him as an individual. I feel really comfortable that Mike is the kind of person in our locker room, at this point in his career, that can assist our young players, be it the draft picks like Juraj Slafkovsky or our young defensemen that are trying to make their way as regular NHL players. Mike is a five-star human being who can be of great assistance to our club.

Hughes on Matheson’s progress over the last two seasons with Pittsburgh:

Mike was a first-round pick by the Panthers, who had a good start to his pro career. That’s why Florida signed him to an eight-year contract. He skates extraordinarily well. Given the way we play, we believe that he’ll be able to help us. Marty wants our defensemen to play on top of the opposing team, instead of just backing up all the time. Like a lot of young players that sign long-term contracts worth a lot of money, sometimes the expectations increase. When Mike was traded to Pittsburgh, we saw him regain his form and improve. I can tell you that Pittsburgh absolutely didn’t want to trade him, but we insisted that he was the player we wanted.

Video: Kent Hughes on trading Petry and signing Pitlick

Hughes on his relationship with Matheson:

I’ve known Mike since his days in Midget AAA. He’s a first-class human being. He’s the kind of guy you’d let marry your daughter, although he’s married with a young baby at this point in his life. He’s a terrific human being. Mike is a player who’s always had a lot of potential. I know back in his time, Dale Tallon thought he would become the Duncan Keith in Florida because of his skating. Mike’s time in Florida was marked with success, and probably some challenges as well. Then when he got into an environment that was more conducive for him, we really started to see his game go. I spoke with Kris Letang at length about Mike before we did this trade, and Kris was disappointed to see him leave, but he was very, very positive in terms of who Mike is and what he can be as a hockey player.

Hughes on shipping Poehling to the Penguins:

Having Ryan be part of the deal, for them, they felt they needed a little depth at center given that their middle of the ice is certainly older. It provides them with that security. With the acquisition on our part of Kirby Dach, we’re pretty comfortable at this point in time with what we have in the middle of the ice with Nick Suzuki, Christian Dvorak and Jake Evans. We had a lot of forwards on one-way deals, and with Ryan leaving, we felt it freed us up to bring Rem Pitlick back, who we liked a lot, at a number that we felt was manageable.

Hughes on Montreal being a good place for Matheson to enjoy success:

The potential for Mike, there’s nobody arguing that. There’s a reason why he was a first-round pick. There’s a reason why he was signed to an eight-year deal when he was in Florida after one full season in the NHL. Brendan Gallagher made a comment to me that one of the things he found very unique about Marty is that he felt he was being coached as an individual. Not individually within the framework of the system, but just as a hockey player. We believe that Marty and our development group will help these guys, and it’s not just on the ice, it’s the environment that they perform in and how we include them, protect them, and make them feel comfortable to play to their best.