Exactly, and all also add the following.
Didn't Hughes also give a long term, big-money contract to Cole Caufield. Wasn't he involved in making sure that Harris was signed and not traded? Didn''t he make sure to get Hutson under contract and into the NHL as quickly as possible?
Yes, they didn't draft Caufield and Harris, but both had trade value. At any point he could have decided to trade them if he was so insistent on a belief in size.
He also traded for Newhook to make him a top 6 forward, and he isn't exactly a size guy either.