Montreal Canadiens: The Three Contracts That Prove Kent Hughes is a Freakin’ Genius

Mike Matheson

Montreal native Mike Matheson was a first round pick of the Florida Panthers back in 2012. The left shot defenceman would play three seasons for Boston College, putting up between 21 and 25 points in each season, providing some decent scoring from the back end.

He then played one season of AHL hockey before making the Panthers full time for the 2016-17 season. He scored seven goals and 17 points in 81 games while playing a lot of even strength minutes on the top pairing with Aaron Ekblad and also taking on a big role on the team’s penalty kill.

It was a fine rookie season, but wouldn’t be described as spectacular. Matheson still had one year left on his entry-level deal but his agent, Hughes, went to work to try and negotiate a long term contract extension for the young blue liner, and he succeeded.

Just before the puck dropped on the 2017-18 campaign, the Panthers inked Matheson to an eight-year extension with a $4.875 million cap hit per year.

Just two years into the eight year contract, Matheson was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins for 33 year old, and overpaid, right winger Patrik Hornqvist. The Panthers even needed to throw in gritty winger Colton Sceviour to make the deal work for the Pens.

Matheson now plays a #4 or #5 role on the Penguins blue line while not being trusted to kill penalties at all anymore and he is not used on the power play either. He has 15 points in 36 games so far this season, putting him on pace for 34 which would set a career high.

The 27 year old is still trying to figure things out defensively at the NHL level, but he is financially secure thanks to his former agent who is now the Canadiens general manager.