"I'm a believer in general, whether it be players or people, that you try to do the right thing," Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes said. "Certainly, in this case, I called Jeff. I said, 'Listen, I know you didn't go to bed expecting to hear from me this morning. I was probably one of the last people you expected to [hear from].' They were, as a family uptight. They have four young boys, and they were about to start school in two weeks, so I I gave him my word. I said, 'Listen, we saw an opportunity here to facilitate the trade between Pittsburgh and San Jose and to help ourselves, but we're mindful that you've got a family and your own career and Montreal is probably not the place you're expecting to play.' I promised him that we'd work expeditiously to get him moved and that we wouldn't drag this out trying to maximize every last piece of value in the trade."