Cowan: Canadiens’ Jeff Gorton lets actions speak louder than words

Jeff Gorton is very good at keeping his cards close to the vest.

The Canadiens hockey president did so again Thursday afternoon when he met with the media in Brossard ahead of Friday’s NHL Draft in Buffalo. (7 p.m., Sportnet, TVA Sport).

When asked what the odds are that the Canadiens pick 28th overall at the draft instead of trading their first-round pick, Gorton smiled and said: “The odds? Oh, wow. It’s illegal to talk about the odds. I would say as of right now I think 28 is a pretty good chance that we pick 28th.”

When asked what type of player the Canadiens might be looking for with the 28th pick, Gorton said, “That’s so hard to say because we’re at the mercy of 27 others. I think we’re confident that it’s a pretty deep draft and that there’s an opportunity to get a good player. But it’s not necessarily that we’re looking for a power winger or a power play defenseman or anything in particular. We’re looking at everything.”

That’s how Gorton and general manager Kent Hughes have operated since they began the rebuilding process just over four years ago. Their ability to not predict what the other 31 teams are up to has worked well, as the Canadiens have been the youngest team in the playoffs the past two years. They advanced to the Eastern Conference finals this season before losing to the Carolina Hurricanes, who went on to win the Stanley Cup.

This time last year, the Canadiens were quietly working on a trade with the New York Islanders that brought defenseman Noah Dobson to Montreal in exchange for forward Emil Heineman and two first-round picks (No. 16 and No. 17) at the NHL Draft. Gorton noted Thursday that the conversations really heated up after he spoke to the media the day before last year’s draft. He added that the trade negotiations now underway are likely to intensify “as soon as I leave this room.”

“It’s probably going to be even more exciting,” Gorton said. “I wouldn’t want to make any promises. Yes, we want to get better. Yes, we have some things in mind that we want to do. But will they happen? I don’t know. I think making a promise – especially in front of you – is probably not a good idea for me.”

The Canadiens know they could use a second-line center and/or a big top-six forward, along with a right-shot defenseman. If they are unable to make a trade before the draft to fill one of these holes, Gorton says there could be players on the free-agent market that opens July 1 that could suit up.

It would be surprising if the Canadiens don’t make a big move this summer.

Whatever the Canadiens do, Gorton said it won’t be a knee-jerk reaction to what other teams — including those in their Atlantic Division — have done recently with a flurry of pre-draft trades.

“I don’t think it’s a great way to go about it and just be reactive to other teams doing certain things, so it’s our turn,” Gorton said. “We’re going to make calculated decisions about the things we do. Hopefully you’ve seen that in the past since we’ve been here and we’re going to continue to do that. Would we want to improve our team? Yes! Are we actively calling everyone, talking, looking at different situations? Yes. But honestly, nowhere else do we feel the pressure to do something that doesn’t fit into what we want to do.”

Patience has been a virtue for Gorton since he was hired by Canadiens owner/president Geoff Molson on November 28, 2021 to start the rebuilding process. Fans have been patient as well, but a trip to the Eastern Conference finals this summer will leave them wanting more.

“I really believe this and I’ve said this before: I believe our fans have really supported what we’ve done,” Gorton said. “They can see it, they feel it. I feel like this year was more confirmation that things are going in the right direction. Hopefully everyone trusts the decision-making and we’ll continue to do that. But I think we’re in a good place and we’ll continue to try to get better.”

One of the final questions Gorton was asked during his 16-minute media scrum Thursday in the Canadiens’ locker room at the CN Sports Complex by Sportsnet’s Eric Engels was: “In an ideal and realistic world, the Canadiens would come out this weekend with what?”

“Wow! That’s a good cliffhanger,” Gorton replied. “I don’t have the answer for you. I wish I had it. But if I did, I don’t think I could give it to you either. It’s like cheating on a test or something.”

“I don’t know if I can answer that,” Gorton added. “It’s a great question and if I answered it it would probably help you with your article. But I don’t think I can do that.”

Gorton and Hughes will continue to let their actions speak louder than their words.

That has certainly worked so far.

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