JUST IN: Connor Hughes signs a one-year contract with the Montreal Canadiens.
Connor Hughes was signed by the Montreal Canadiens to a one-year, two-way deal, giving them some goaltender depth for the 2024–25 campaign.
Since being left off the draft ten years ago, Hughes, 27, has never held an NHL contract. Coming from London, Ontario, Hughes played in the GOJHL, SOJHL, OJHL, and most famously, the CCHL with the Carleton Place Canadians during his junior career. With Carleton Place winning the championship and his being named playoff MVP, he became one of Canada’s finest Jr. A goaltenders in 2016–17.
With a deal with HC Ambri-Piotta in Switzerland, Hughes made his professional debut the following year. Prior to joining HC Fribourg-Gotteron as a full-time goalie last year, he played almost exclusively in the Swiss League’s second division for a few years.
In Lausanne for the 2023–24 season, Hughes recorded a league-best.940 save percentage and 1.73 goals against average while playing for a 10–6–1 record and two shutouts. In the postseason, he also had an 11-6-1 record after dethroning Kevin Pasche as the starter.
Hughes is noteworthy for being one of the select few players who have played for two different nations during a single international hockey campaign. The same season he made his debut for the Swiss national team, he assisted Canada in a game as a stand-in goalie during the 2022 Spengler Cup. His dual citizenship in Canada and Switzerland does not grant him complete access to IIHF competitions.
It is anticipated that Hughes, following his first full season of professional hockey, will join 23-year-old Jakub Dobes on the Laval Rocket in 2024–25. Hughes has been a professional for a long time, but never in North America. He is 27 years old.
Samuel Montembeault and Cayden Primeau are the two goalies who the Canadiens have signed NHL contracts for. They also own the rights to Joe Vrbetic, Emmett Croteau, Jacob Fowler, Quentin Miller, and Evgeni Volokhin. Failure to sign Miller and Vrbetic before June 1, 2025, will result in Montreal losing the rights to them.
There are two more years left on Carey Price’s contract, but injuries prevent him from playing in the NHL.