Marco D’Amico reports<\/a> that several NHL teams are actively pursuing NCAA forward T.J. Hughes ahead of next season.<\/p>\nKent Hughes and the Montreal Canadiens are indeed among the serious potential destinations looking to attract this highly coveted NHL player (an NCAA free agent).<\/p>\n
Currently, T.J. Hughes plays for the University of Michigan, alongside top Canadiens prospect Michael Hage.<\/p>\n
Additionally, we learn that growing up in the province of Ontario allowed the young forward to develop a very strong connection to the Montreal Canadiens organization.<\/p>\n
A lifelong fan of the Habs, T.J. Hughes regularly attended Hamilton Bulldogs games during his youth.<\/p>\n
Add to that his childhood admiration for former Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty, and it creates an intriguing dynamic that could help draw him to Montreal.<\/p>\n
“My grandpa was a Habs fan, my dad was a Habs fan, so I grew up watching them. Going to games at the Bell Centre with my family, that was special.<\/p>\n
I grew up watching Pacioretty. Him, Price, Markov, Gallagher. So when I found out he was joining the staff (Michigan’s coaching staff), I was so excited.”<\/p>\n
– T.J. Hughes<\/p>\n
Will T.J. Hughes sign his first contract with the Montreal Canadiens?<\/p>\n
Attracting talent from the NCAA ranks (as a free agent) often requires management to lean on strong and direct personal connections.<\/p>\n
The Montreal Canadiens organization clearly holds a significant advantage over other teams in this situation.<\/p>\n
Several general managers across the league will inevitably try to complicate matters with very attractive offers this spring, but don’t be surprised if Kent Hughes manages to sign T.J. Hughes in the near future.<\/p>\n
T.J. Hughes, 24, has recorded 50 points in 36 games this season in the NCAA (exactly the same as Michael Hage). He is a 6-foot forward who was never drafted into the NHL.<\/p>\n
Previously on Montreal Hockey Fanatics<\/p>\n
POLL<\/p>\n
14 HOURS AGO|342 ANSWERS<\/p>\n
Canadiens linked to T.J. Hughes as Michigan forward draws interest after 50-point season<\/p>\n
Will T.J. Hughes sign with the Habs?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Canadiens linked to T.J. Hughes as Michigan forward draws interest after 50-point season
…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":516018,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[18720,4007,5,1749,2257,21,4,59451],"class_list":["post-516017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-acquisition","tag-free-agent","tag-hockey","tag-kent-hughes","tag-michael-hage","tag-montreal-canadiens","tag-nhl","tag-t-j-hughes"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116270779696825617","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=516017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/516018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=516017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=516017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Michigan](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/652850.webp.webp\" "\\"Michigan")
<\/p>\n