The advantage of hiring an agent as CEO

The candidates for the position of general manager of the Canadiens have just come out of the last bend. They start the home stretch. And who do we find, very well positioned, ahead of the peloton?

Kent Hughes.

Less known than the other finalists, Hughes is a respected agent in the NHL. His profile matches that sought by the Canadiens – “outside the box” and “complementary” to that of new hockey operations boss Jeff Gorton. The two men are close friends. Gorton drafted one of Hughes’ sons, Riley, with the New York Rangers.

“A chum, is it a chum”?

Sure. The NHL is a contact industry. It won’t change today or tomorrow. Except that Kent Hughes is much more than just a friend of Jeff Gorton. It is above all a very good head of hockey, which has assets to lead the Canadian through the long storm which began in the fall.

Which ?

The experience

Kent Hughes is the most experienced candidate. Over the past quarter century, he has worked with most, if not all, active CEOs. He knows their negotiation tactics. their strategies. their constraints. Their degree of autonomy in the organization. He knows how to recognize a general manager who is bluffing from another who is really handcuffed. He also understands very well the interests of the agents. Big advantages in negotiation.

“My past as an agent was an invaluable experience,” Andrew Brandt once wrote in Sports Illustrated. A few years earlier, he had gone from agent to vice-president of the Green Bay Packers.

“I was negotiating the same contracts as before, but on the other side of the table. I was able to put myself in the shoes of the agent I was up against. I knew exactly how he felt. I had been in his shoes hundreds of times. I anticipated all of his arguments – the good ones, the bad ones, the crazy ones. »

Knowledge of the Quebec market

Although Kent Hughes, who is bilingual, left Montreal for Boston a long time ago, he still knows the Quebec market well.

As much as Patrick Roy and Marc Denis?

No. But more than you think. A former forward for the Lac Saint-Louis Lions, he counts several former members of this organization among his clients. Notably Joseph Veleno, William Carrier, Michael Matheson and Mathias Laferrière. He also recruited several players from other regions of Quebec, such as Patrice Bergeron, Kristopher Letang and Anthony Beauvillier. His agency, Quartexx, has offices on chemin de la Côte-de-Liesse, in Mount Royal. I’ve already had a guided tour. The facilities are magnificent. The caliber of a professional hockey club. In the summer, its clients train there with the best teenage hockey players in the province.

Talent assessment

To be successful as an agent, you have to be persuasive. But you also have to have an eye to spot talent quickly. To this end, Hughes enjoys a very good reputation in the industry. It can work in his favor. “Many owners believe that being an agent not only equips you to manage a group of people, but also to assess players. Because agents are in the industry, they have the opportunity to get to know all of the organizations. I think it’s a good thing,” ex-Ottawa Senators general manager Bryan Murray said in the book. Behind the Moves.

Privileged information

Finally, a big, big plus in an agent’s application file is the large amount of inside information he has. Because an agent, for a player, is more than a negotiator. It is a friend. A confidant. A benevolent soul who listens, comforts, dispels doubts and reduces anxieties. A trustworthy person, to whom we can reveal our gray areas. The general manager who has all this information, during a negotiation, can make a more informed decision. It can make the difference between a good acquisition or one that we will regret for five years.

* * *

Over the past few weeks, I’ve called a few former NHL players. I asked them how they would have reacted if their agent had become general manager.

The answer heard most often?

Not very well.

It is the equivalent, it was explained to me, of a union representative who goes over to the management side. You don’t want to find your agent/friend/confidant on the other side of the negotiating table. It can be perceived as a betrayal.

Discomfort guaranteed.

This is what happened in the fall of 2018 with the New York Mets. The team hired agent Brodie Van Wagenen as general manager. Like Kent Hughes, Van Wagenen came from a major agency, CAA. Several of Van Wagenen’s and agency clients were then playing for the Mets. Including stars Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Yeonis Cespedes.

This appointment sparked controversy. “I won’t tell you how many calls and text messages I received. I will simply confirm that our members are following the situation carefully, ”said the president of the players’ union in the middle of the World Series.

The fear of the players? That Van Wagenen is using inside information against the agency’s clients. Another agent, Scott Boras, was indignant at the situation at the Michael Kay Show.

Kent Hughes is close to prospect Jayden Struble, who plays on the same team as his sons at Northeastern University. Hughes, however, does not represent any Canadiens player. At least, not those in formal training.

The Quartexx agency has at least two clients in the organization: Josh Anderson and Michael Pezzetta. I asked the Players Association in December if they were concerned that an agent could become general manager in the short term. Answer: “The matter of relations between agents and clubs is governed by the provisions on conflicts of interest in the regulations for agents. We monitor the circumstances to determine if a conflict of interest has arisen. »

As Hughes has no known client in the workforce, I do not believe that his appointment as general manager of the Canadian would be a problem. A faintness ? May be. But nothing that would not fade with victories and years, as we have often seen elsewhere. Among others with Pierre Lacroix, in Colorado, or Bob Myers, with the Golden State Warriors.

As Andrew Brandt pointed out in his testimony in Sports Illustrated “Listen, conflicts [d’intérêts] in sports, as in other industries, are commonplace. The reality is that sometimes the most talented people, those who have the most aptitude for certain positions, they sit on the other side of the negotiating table. Their experience in the opposition gives them an extraordinary point of view which can facilitate the relationship with the other camp. »

“Lawyers switch sides all the time. It’s the same in business. We see former colleagues negotiating together. Moreover, as business leaders rise through the ranks, they are often called upon to manage – or discipline, or fire – those with whom they once worked. It happens. This is business reality, not theories about potential conflicts of interest. »

So, Kent Hughes as general manager?

It might not please all players. Nor to the supporters who hoped to see Patrick Roy, a young retired player or a woman in this role. But if Kent Hughes is the confirmed candidate in the next few hours, it could be a smoking gun for the Canadian.