As we reported last night, Kent Hughes held a surprising press conference this morning live from Buffalo. The Canadiens' general manager agreed to comment on Matvei Michkov, and he reassured many fans who want to see the phenom land in Montreal. <q>We'll evaluate Michkov as a hockey player first, and deal with the rest afterwards. - Kent Hughes</q> The GM also added that he has seen Michkov play in person. What's more, his KHL contract doesn't scare him at all, so here's a red flag raised. Sure, there are other concerns, but as Hughes says, with equal talent, flags matter. However, Mishkov isn't equal in talent, he's far more talented, and some experts even place him ahead of Connor Bedard. If he's available at No. 5, don't be surprised if the Habs make the Russian their top pick in 2023. <blockquote class=twitter-tweet><p lang=fr dir=ltr>Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes addresses the media from the NHL Combine in Buffalo.<br><br>Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes addresses the media from the NHL Combine in Buffalo.<a href=https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoHabsGo?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>#GoHabsGo</a> <a href=https://t.co/iiNRHeLCWi>https://t.co/iiNRHeLCWi</a>- Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) <a href=https://twitter.com/CanadiensMTL/status/1666800778365763585?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>June 8, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src=https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js charset=utf-8>