Gorton on a new GM: 'We will find the best person'

BROSSARD -- Newly installed Executive Vice President, Hockey Operations, Jeff Gorton, held his introductory press conference on Friday.

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During the 30-minute Q&A session, Gorton confirmed that he has yet to solidify a group of candidates for the general manager position and that he expects to hire someone at some point after Christmas.
The veteran executive also confirmed that head coach Dominique Ducharme's job is safe for the remainder of the season.
Here are some highlights from Gorton's press conference at the Bell Sports Complex:
Gorton on why this job opportunity was perfect for him:
It's the Montreal Canadiens. It's the Original Six. It's the city of Montreal. The history of this franchise excites me. With my background with Boston and New York, there seems to be a path I've somehow found myself on with the Original Six. Once I spoke to Geoff Molson, and talked about where this organization needs to go and what they were looking for, it just felt like the right fit for me, so here I am today.
Gorton on his vision for the franchise down the road:
The team has obviously had a tough start to the season. I recognize that. I think it'll evolve over time. There are obviously things that have to happen here. If you look at some of the teams I've been around and been a part of, we want to be fast and skilled and probably work on our player development. There are a lot of different things that I'd like to do, and over time you'll see my philosophy.

Gorton on his immediate priorities in his new role:
I really want to concentrate on being close to the team and understanding the players and the coaching staff, and also the support staff. I need to spend time with the scouts. There are a lot of things that go into it. As we move forward, we're going to have to select a general manager, so that's there, too.
Gorton on emphasizing analytics and improving player development:
We need to build out our analytics better and modernize it. I do believe in analytics. The way the game has gone, it's a big piece of information that you need to have, so I would like to build out a staff that way. With respect to player development, we have a couple of gentlemen in place that are doing a good job, but we need more. The way the game has gone, the way these kids are, they need help in a lot of ways as soon as we draft them or sign them, so I'd like to build that out a little better, too.
Gorton on the criteria he's looking for in a new general manager:
Somebody that has a great knowledge of hockey and an understanding of how the business works. We'll look at everything. What we want to do as a group is look at all the candidates and pick the very best based on what they have. Maybe it's a person that doesn't have a ton of experience as a general manager, but what else do they have and what else can they bring to the table? How else can they help us look at different scenarios? We're going to look for somebody maybe a little outside the box that can help us move forward and maybe complements me.

Gorton on the two-person structure envisioned atop the hockey operations department:
The game has changed a little bit now, and if you look around the League, you see a lot of two-man complementary systems where everyone is working in collaboration. That's what we're going to strive for. I've been a general manager. I believe once we hire a general manager, that person is going to need some authority to make some decisions, and I believe with my history and the amount of time I've experienced in the game, I'm going to be a pretty good asset for that person. That's one of the reasons that attracted me to this position.
Gorton on the importance of assembling a roster featuring local players:
This is a unique market, and I certainly understand the need to look at local players. If you look at my history in Boston, we've always had guys from the area. In New York, we were lucky to get Adam Fox, who's from there. It's something that I definitely think is important, and especially in this market, I understand the importance of it.
Gorton on being a Bruins fan growing up and working for their rivals now:
Being from Boston, the Canadiens broke my heart a lot of times. I remember 1979. It sticks out as the first memory where things were thrown in my house when there was that call against the Bruins for too many men on the ice. As far as coming into the game and travelling and being a part of the Bruins organization, coming up here, and seeing all the great players around and the history, coming to a game in Montreal was special. You could feel that right away. Who wouldn't want to be a part of that?

Gorton on the Habs' struggles so far this year:
It's been a difficult time. We all can see that. Anybody in hockey can see that. It's almost been a perfect storm against Montreal with all the injuries and everything that's gone bad, and now you have COVID. It just seems like it's adding up on them. It hasn't started off great. Walking into this building, you can tell that the energy is a little down. You feel that. I hope that I can bring some energy and a positive way of thinking that we can turn this around and move forward. That's one of my short-term goals, try to talk to all these players and understand what's going on, so we can move forward. I understand the frustration. The players are feeling it. I can tell you that from being here for two days.
Gorton on his future relationship with the new general manager from an authority and decision-making standpoint:
I've been a general manager, and for me, it was important when I met with Geoff Molson that the general manager has a direct line to him and that he can make decisions. My role is to use all my experience to help that person and to help make this team better again and start winning. That's how I look at it. Anybody that knows me, I don't have a huge ego and I'm not worried about titles. I just want to help. I want to be a hockey-decision guy, and I think I can help this team move forward.
Gorton on some other key skills the new general manager should possess:
We want to focus on finding somebody that has a different outlook. I've been in hockey my whole life. Maybe it could be an agent, maybe it could be somebody that was just a player. It could be somebody, but somebody different than me. I wasn't a player. I wasn't an agent. It could be just a different background. We're going to look at those things. I've read some of the names and I've had some calls, but we want to reserve judgment on that so we have a little more time to figure out who might be out there, and then we will find the best person.

Gorton on notable changes to come in terms of player development:
We need to help our players through. Once we take them, it's important to be in contact with them and it's important to talk to them every day about their game, how they can be better, nutrition, anything we can offer them in terms of communication from the moment we draft them until they reach the NHL. We can do a better job of that. Every team can do a better job of working with these kids and turning them into men and eventually good pros. It's really just the day-to-day contact and maintaining those relationships. It's a high-pressure game. There's a lot that goes into these players, and we want to help them as much as we can get there as soon as they can. But, we could do a better job of supporting them and having the right people in place for that.