The Montreal Canadiens extended their general manager, Kent Hughes, to a five-year contract extension last Tuesday. He is 55 and has played an important role in the team’s rebuild, making it to the playoffs after a gap of several seasons in 2025.According to NHL insider Pierre LeBrun, Kent Hughes could have negotiated a higher salary but chose not to. Speaking on The Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro, LeBrun said Hughes left a little money on the table."You know, Kent Hughes signed extensions last week," LeBrun said on Wednesday. "My understanding is that I don't know what he signed for, but my understanding, from talking to other people around the league, that Ken Hughes left a little money on the table with his duty. But in other words, if you're going to preach it to your players, you have to, you have to do it yourself."Since becoming general manager in January 2022, Kent Hughes has overseen the drafting of key Habs players. He drafted Juraj Slafkovsky and Lane Hutson in 2022, David Reinbacher in 2023, and Ivan Demidov in 2024.Speaking about the rebuild that Hughes has done, LeBrun said,"And of course, probably had the leverage because of the successful rebuild to get into a higher tier of the GM salaries. And my understanding is he didn't; he didn't try to do that."Previously, Canadiens owner Geoff Molson expressed satisfaction with Hughes' extension. He thanked Hughes and executive vice president Jeff Gorton for improving the team during their time. In his statement via the NHL, Molson said:"I am very pleased that Jeff and Kent have committed to the Montreal Canadiens for an additional five years. ... thank Jeff and Kent for taking this team and organization to where it is today, full of talent, size and speed..."Kent Hughes says social media helped speed up Lane Hutson’s contract talksBack on October 14, Kent Hughes also spoke about Lane Hutson’s contract. He said social media attention helped speed up the negotiations.“We were worried that it would affect Lane and the team. We wanted to eliminate all distractions,” Hughes explained.The team wanted to complete the deal quickly, even though they were slightly behind schedule. They signed Hutson to an eight-year contract worth $70.8 million, averaging $8.85 million per season, starting in 2026-27.“Lane wanted to make sure we understood how much he wanted to be here and how hard he was going to work,” Hughes said. "...There wouldn't be an eight-year deal if we didn't believe in who you were at your core.”Now the Habs will focus on Hutson’s growth and contributions as they aim for a playoff spot once again.