According to one source, Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes was not happy with former Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving following a trade that fell through at the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline, which included forward Matthew Knies.

Jonah Siegel, a Toronto-based reporter who works for YYZ Sports Media, suggested that Hughes went out of his way to denigrate Treliving, as the deal was apparently submitted at 3:01 pm ET, one minute beyond the deadline.

According to Siegel, Hughes exclaimed “If you’re not fired by the summer, you need to honour this trade.”

The Leafs would go on to fire Treliving on March 30, 2026.

Considering Hughes is usually a fairly mild-mannered executive, it’s hard to believe he would talk in such a manner, but the trade deadline does add extra pressure to the equation, and there’s no doubt that a failed trade can be seen as a considerably frustrating situation.

The reported trade structure for the Knies deal involved top prospect Alexander Zharovsky, a pair of first-round picks, as well as another prospect who was not named.

It would have been a rather steep price to pay, but there’s no denying Knies fits Montreal’s preferred age group, as he’s just 23-year-old, and has plenty of gas left in the tank.

We also know the Canadiens were working on a ‘big trade’ during the deadline, though that deal never materialized, and Hughes was visibly frustrated when discussing the day with the media.

“We spent a lot of time on one case in particular,” said Hughes at the deadline. “And it went down to the wire, but that doesn’t stop us from revisiting it in the summer.”

Seeing as Treliving is no longer the general manager of the Maple Leafs, if Hughes was indeed discussing a possible Knies trade, he will not have an opportunity to revisit the deal this summer.

Such is life in professional sports.

On the flip side of the coin, while acquiring a young, talented player such as Knies would have been interesting, the most pressing need is a No. 2 centre, not another skilled winger.