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Canadiens GM Kent Hughes isn’t concerned about his ability to attract free agents to Montreal in the future.

There are many reasons NHL players might not want to come to Montreal, including the weather, language, taxes and the fact the Canadiens have missed the playoffs for the last three seasons and are still in a rebuilding phase.

The Canadiens are also competing against American teams that have no state income tax where they play, including the Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers, the Tampa Bay Lightning, Dallas Stars, Vegas Golden Knights and Nashville Predators.

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The Predators made the biggest splash Monday when the NHL free-agent market opened, signing forwards Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault and defenceman Brady Skjei to long-term contracts with a combined value of US$118.5 million. Stamkos signed a four-year, US$42-million contract, Marchessault signed a five-year, US$27.5-million deal and Skjei signed a seven-year, US$49-million contract.

“Every state’s different,” Hughes said when he met with the media Monday afternoon at the CN Sports Complex in Brossard and was asked about players signing with teams that have no state income tax. “So, New York is fairly high tax-wise. Obviously, California and some other states are higher than certainly the non-income-tax states. But it’s not that simple because the players, for example, go on the road. So if you’re playing in Nashville, every time you’re going into California you’re getting taxed in the state of California. You’re not getting your income without any state income tax. The only way you do that is with pure signing bonus.

“I won’t get into the specifics of it,” Hughes added. “Ultimately, guys do end up paying state income taxes.”

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Hughes noted that teams with no state income tax playing in a division with California teams — like the Vegas Golden Knights do — spend a lot of time in that state.

“Every day (for a game) is basically like two days’ worth (of taxes), so it’s not as significant as some people think it is,” Hughes said, adding that NHL contracts are based on a 186- or 187-day schedule.

Hughes, who grew up in Beaconsfield on Montreal’s West Island, can’t do anything to change Quebec taxes, the weather in Montreal or language issues. But he can make the Canadiens a better team, which he believes would make them more attractive to free agents. He said that during his many years as a player agent before becoming GM of the Canadiens he realized that “at the end of the day, hockey players are happy when hockey is going well.”

Last week, Hughes was a guest on the Pre-Game Twirl podcast with former Canadiens player Torrey Mitchell, who used to have the GM as his agent. Mitchell grew up in Greenfield Park on Montreal’s South Shore.

“I think there’s so many different factors,” Hughes told Mitchell when asked about attracting free agents to Montreal. “There’s different considerations that different players in different situations take into account. We can’t control the weather. It’s beautiful every month but January — as you can attest to having grown up there. Taxes? I mean, nowadays taxes are worse in a lot of other markets. People die to play for the Rangers and you live in New York City and pay your city and state taxes and federal taxes, I’m fairly certain you’re no better off there.

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“So if you can build an environment and a culture that people want to be a part of, where there’s a sense of ownership, belonging, communication and all the rest of it and a shared vision that they feel part of,” Hughes added. “Because we’ve been in a rebuilding process we haven’t had to really dive into the deep end on free agency. But, listen, I sit here and knowing what I know about Montreal, if I were a player I’d want to be in Montreal and I’m confident we can do that. That part of it doesn’t scare me. That’s on me to be able to share the vision and get them to buy into it and want to be part of it.”

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