BROSSARD, Quebec — As the on-ice portion of Montreal Canadiens development camp kicked off Wednesday, the same day the NHL free-agent market opened, Michael Hage was on the ice with his fellow prospects, working to ease his path to the NHL.The Canadiens were still working to improve their team on the trade market, and while Hage was on the ice, it was hard not to get the impression he was also the player who could best unlock that improvement.As the Canadiens continue trade talks and have been unable to complete a needle-moving deal, the name teams ask about most often is Hage. But the Canadiens do not want to trade him unless something special comes back — they believe in his talent so much that they’ve made no effort to hide their view that he’s ready to turn pro.Hage believes otherwise, and he intends to return to the University of Michigan for his junior season.As Hage did drills with his fellow prospects on Wednesday, Ivan Demidov — whom the Canadiens selected 16 picks before Hage in the first round of the 2024 draft — was signing an eight-year contract extension worth more than $73 million. And a few hours later, as Hughes discussed the new contract, which Demidov could have fought to earn more money, he commended the character of his budding star in accepting a deal that pays him a ton, but still not as much as Demidov could have earned if he played hardball.Character, however, shows itself in different ways.But we’ll get back to that.As Hughes fielded questions on the Demidov contract, the question of striking out on the trade market while major deals were happening across the league inevitably came up.“I want to do that,” Hughes said. “So, making sure we do that probably requires a little bit of prudence, a little bit of patience instead of just chasing it. But if I had my druthers, we did it yesterday.“But I also recognize: We also have very, very talented, good hockey players that are in our system that are coming. For a lot of people, they’re just names, but they’re not that far away from being really good National Hockey League players, too.”Hage is not the only player the second part of Hughes’ answer was referring to, but he is undoubtedly the primary one.On a team brimming with young talent that is nearly all signed long-term — including goaltender Jakub Dobeš, who is signed through 2030 after inking a three-year extension Thursday — it is unique that Hage appears so pivotal to the next stage of this team’s improvement in two opposing ways. He is at once their most promising addition to that young core and their most valuable way of adding an external element to that same core.In this context, Hage’s decision to return to Michigan has been met with some confusion, some criticism, and a decided lack of perspective. And also in this context, Hage’s explanation for that decision on Wednesday merits praise, not criticism.