Rumor: Canadiens have narrowed GM search down to the final 3 candidates.

The Montreal Canadiens have officially been operating without a general manager since the month of November, but it sounds like they may finally be getting close to finding someone to fill that role in their organization.

On Saturday night National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman reported that the Canadiens are believed to be down to their final 3 candidates, although the real number may actually be 2. Friedman revealed that the Canadiens are waiting on word from NHL agent Kent Hughes who they would like to interview as a candidate, with Hughes reportedly not having made a decision on that front just yet.

"I think of all the GM searches that are happening right now, that one could be the closest to coming to a close," said Friedman on Saturday night's NHL broadcast. "Eric Engels reporting this week that some of the candidates had second interviews and now is decision time for player agent Kent Hughes. Hughes as reported at the beginning of the search is someone the Canadiens are very interested in, someone that is very close to Jeff Gorton who is now running hockey operations there, and the Canadiens want to know if Hughes is going to be a candidate and if he is interested in the job. I think that decision probably comes in the next few days and we see where he goes."

I may be reading too much into Friedman's comments here but it sounds to me like the Canadiens may consider Hughes the favorite to take the job if they are indeed waiting for him to confirm his candidacy after already interviewing other candidates multiple times, but that doesn't mean he will get the job even if he does accept to be a candidate.

Friedman has also reported that there are 2 other names that remain in the hunt and both are former players with strong ties to the Montreal Canadiens organization as well as ties to the local area.

"The other finalist are believed to be Daniel Briere and Mathieu Darche," said Friedman. "It sounds like Briere and Darche are among the finalists and now we will find out at some point soon if Kent Hughes will be another."

Both Briere and Darche are former Canadiens players and that would likely make them popular choices for the vacant GM position.