Hughes first became acquainted with hockey executive
Jeff Gorton when both lived in
Boston, with the latter working for the
Boston Bruins. Gorton first attempted to recruit Hughes to work with him while he was general manager of the
New York Rangers, but he declined. Gorton was later hired by
Geoff Molson to be executive vice president of hockey operations for the
Montreal Canadiens, after having sacked general manager
Marc Bergevin after the team had a historically disastrous start to the
2021–22 NHL season, and began a search for a replacement. Hughes was persuaded to interview for the job, which he considered a "dream" position. His hiring as the eighteenth general manager in team history was announced on January 18, 2022. While it was initially announced that coach
Dominique Ducharme would be retained for the remainder of the season, Hughes removed Ducharme and replaced him with retired star forward
Martin St. Louis after the team had lost seven consecutive games at the beginning of 2022, most by blowout margins. Despite having no prior professional coaching experience, St. Louis was immediately well-received. Beginning a plan to revamp the team's roster, Hughes executed a series of trades in his first two months, parting with players
Tyler Toffoli,
Ben Chiarot,
Brett Kulak and
Artturi Lehkonen to secure new draft picks and prospects. Following the season's end, Hughes announced the creation of the Canadiens' first in-house
analytics department; led by the Montreal Canadiens first director of hockey analytics Christopher Boucher. Hughes' first draft as general manager was consequential in that Montreal was both the host and held the
first overall pick for the first time since
1980. The Canadiens would draft Slovak winger
Juraj Slafkovský first overall, departing from the longstanding consensus that had favoured Canadian centre
Shane Wright as the topmost selection. On the day of the draft, Hughes also executed a series of trades to acquire
former third overall pick Kirby Dach from the
Chicago Blackhawks. In the same off-season, Hughes fulfilled the trade request from defenceman
Jeff Petry by trading him to the
Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for
Mike Matheson, a former client of his. The trade was generally considered a success for the Canadiens after its first year. In Hughes' first full year as general manager, the Canadiens finished fifth-last in the league. In advance of the
2023 NHL entry draft, Hughes traded the thirty-first overall selection that he acquired in the Chiarot trade the year prior to the
Colorado Avalanche in exchange for
Alex Newhook, another of his former clients, who was subsequently signed to an extension. With their own first round selection being fifth overall, the team opted to take Austrian
EHC Kloten defenceman
David Reinbacher over Russian
SKA Saint Petersburg forward
Matvei Michkov. This choice proved controversial, given the latter's projected scoring talent and the Canadiens' lack of offensive depth. ==Personal life==