Canadiens GM Kent Hughes shares how he turned to Nick Suzuki before finalizing $34,800,000 superstar's acquisition

The Montreal Canadiens traded for forward Patrik Laine in August last year. Laine came from the Columbus Blue Jackets with a 2026 second-round pick. In return, Montreal sent defenseman Jordan Harris to Columbus. Laine is signed to a four-year, $34,800,000 contract with a cap hit of $8.7 million and his deal expires in 2026.

Before finalizing the move, general manager Kent Hughes spoke with captain Nick Suzuki. The Habs captain revealed it on "Season 2 of The Rebuild: Inside the Montreal Canadiens," which premiered on Thursday on Crave.

“Ken called me the day before the trade happened, just, you know, to try to get my thoughts," Suzuki said in the series.

Talking about his decision to discuss with Suzuki, Hughes said he wanted to make sure the locker room supported the decision.

“It’s just to kind of talk with your captain and make sure that this is something that is the right move," Hughes said. "We know hockey-wise what he’s capable of doing, but just making sure our room was good with it."

Suzuki told Hughes he fully supported adding Laine. He called Laine an amazing player who has performed at a high level for years.

"You know, I was all for it, you know, he’s an amazing player, has been for a really long time, and you know I’m hoping we just get him back to where he was," Suzuki said.

Hughes valued this input and moved forward with the trade.

Patrik Laine was excited to join Nick Suzuki's Canadiens

In the same series, Patrik Laine said that once he heard the Canadiens were interested, he wanted to come right away.

“As soon as I heard that there might be a possibility to come here, I was all in," Laine said. "I told everybody right away, pretty much said, you know, this is where I want to go.”

Patrik Laine missed the first 24 games of the season with a knee injury. He made his debut for the Canadiens on December 3 against the New York Islanders. He scored a power-play goal in a 2-1 overtime win.

Laine quickly showed his scoring touch in Montreal. On December 17, he recorded a hat trick against the Buffalo Sabres. Despite missing time, he scored 20 goals for the Canadiens in his first season.

Laine is expected to be an important scorer moving forward. he is now part of a young Habs core built around Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky.