Entry-level contracts will be key for the Montreal Canadiens moving forward

The happy phase of the Montreal Canadiens cap structure won’t last forever but continuing to add players on entry-level deals will help to lengthen it.

The salary cap hasn’t been something the Montreal Canadiens have had to run up their ‘concern’ flag pole since Marc Bergevin has taken over. Despite the initial, and still lasting, push back from the Carey Price extension (eight years at $10.5 million per) the Habs, and their salary cap has been drastically better than other teams in the league.

In fact, they’ve been able to use their cap as a backhanded aid. The most recent example is the Joel Armia trade that saw the Montreal Canadiens acquire the 25-year-old as well as a 2019 seventh-round pick and a 2020 fourth-round pick only having to send Simon Bourque the other way. All that to take on and buyout Steve Mason‘s contract which will carry a $1,366,667 penalty for another season.

Fast forward a year and things are still looking bright in Montreal salary cap land. They do have their players who need to resign including the aforementioned Armia along with Artturi Lehkonen and Brett Kulak to name a few, but it doesn’t seem like any of those signings will put the Habs in an Edmonton situation.

There is a downside to this, and it’s a proven fact: a good cap situation doesn’t last forever. Eventually, these players Bergevin has gotten on sweetheart deals will need to get paid. Max Domi has one more year at $3.15 million, Brendan Gallagher has two more left at $3.75 million, while both Noah Juulsen and Victor Mete are entering their final entry-level year.

It’s this moment in an organization’s tenure that can make or break it. Domi, Gallagher, Juulsen, and Mete are will continue to be core players, and the Montreal Canadiens need to keep them at all costs. Perhaps you can be a little lenient on Mete and Juulsen, but it would have to take a lot to get to the point where either of them would be expendable.

Both are young mobile defenceman who have proven they can slot in a top-four role and that’s not easy to come by anymore. Of course, some teams try to take the average player and run them up there, but it eventually catches up to those who are playing above their paygrade.

As the Montreal Canadiens continue to extend current talent and bring in new talent through free agency that will cost more and more money, having players like Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Ryan Poehling will be the difference makers. Young talent on”cheap” three-year deals has been on the rise in the modern day NHL and its been a good way for executives to keep their cap at a decent non-headache inducing playing field.

Thankfully the prospect pool has recived a well-respectable upgrade over the last two seasons, so much so that there are a number of players who are legitimate options to play in the NHL. Having these names in the system gives Bergevin the Steve Yzerman card when it comes to future contract negotiations.

Yzerman isn’t the only general manager to take a strong arm to his free agents, but he is the most recent. When there was worry over whether Steven Stamkos would resign or hit the open market, the then Tampa Bay general manager was quoted calmy at the draft saying they had their number and it was up to Stamkos whether he would take it or not.

Bringing it back to the Montreal Canadiens, if say Phillip Danault wants a deal higher than Bergevin is willing to offer, they can be comfortable with letting him go and/or moving him for futures.

Teams get to a point where the smallest decisions wind up being the most important down the line, and the Habs are there now. So who are these potential key players?

Besides Kotkaniemi and Poehling, the Montreal Canadiens also have the likes of Nick Suzuki, Joël Teasdale, Josh Brook, and Cale Fleury on entry-level contracts. Additionally, you have to think Alexander Romanov, Jesse Ylönen, and Joni Ikonen will take a similar path as Lukas Vejdemo, who is also on an ELC, and make the jump to North America.

Yes, the focus is and will always be on the leaders on the team. But as time passes, the reigns are going to continuously be handed off to the young players who play far above what they make.