Lane Hutson file: Kent Hughes is in Minnesota to see him

At 5pm this afternoon, he’ll play an NCAA semi-final game against Denver, and if he wins, he’ll play in the final, which takes place on Saturday. In other words, the end of his season is fast approaching.

And as Renaud Lavoie tells us, Kent Hughes is currently in Minnesota – where the final games of the NCAA season take place – to see him play.

What this means is that as soon as Hutson is eliminated (or crowned, if he wins his next two games), he can start talking to Kent Hughes about signing his NHL entry-level contract.

The fans are waiting for him, in any case.

Of course, you’d think Hughes would also be there to see Luke Tuch (a teammate of Lane Hutson who may become a free agent this summer), Sam Harris (Denver) and Jacob Fowler (Boston College), while he’s at it…

But the #1 reason for his trip to Minnesota is clearly to see Bill Guerin Lane Hutson and get him to sign a contract.

Remember that officially, an NCAA player can’t have an agent and a pro contract to keep his NCAA eligibility. That said, it’s safe to assume that it won’t take Hughes several weeks to get him to sign his first contract with the Habs.

We’ll see next year whether he’ll have to go through Laval (like Sean Farrell in 2023) or make the club (like Jordan Harris in 2022) for the 2024-2025 season, but right now, expect to see him play a game or two in the NHL against Detroit next week.

In brief

– Alex Burrows turns 43.

– Hum…

– Florian Xhekaj is nicknamed The Deputy.

– The Habs and Gary Bettman probably didn’t like seeing Éric Girard speak publicly about wanting the Habs in Quebec City and meeting with the commissioner in New York. [JdeM]

– Indeed.