The Montreal Canadiens have added goaltending depth, signing Connor Hughes to a one-year, two-way contract, the team announced on Tuesday.
Hughes is 27 years old and spent last season with Lausanne HC in the Swiss NL. He was born in London, Ontario but also has Swiss citizenship. Last year, he played in 19 games with a 10-6-1 record, 1.73 goals against average and .940 save percentage. He went 11-6-1 in 18 playoff games with a 1.91 GAA and .933 save percentage. He finished the season with the best GAA and save percentage in the NL.
He has played 148 games in the top two Swiss divisions over the last seven seasons. He also represented Canada at the 2023 Spengler Cup.
Hughes is likely to provide organizational depth and split time in the American Hockey League with Jakub Dobeš. Last year, the Canadiens only had Dobeš eligible for a call up if something happened to Cayden Primeau or Samuel Montembeault down the stretch. The issue was not really a concern with the team also having Jake Allen for most of the season. This year, they will have a more standard set up while providing Laval with two solid goaltenders.
