The Montreal Canadiens have signed Cole Caufield to a massive eight-year, $62.8 million contract extension. The deal will keep the star forward in Montreal until the end of the 2030-31 season. This is massive news for the Canadiens, as now their two star forwards, Caufield and Suzuki, are both under contract for the foreseeable future, with Suzuki under contract until the end of the 2029-30 season. So now the Canadiens can solely focus on building a team around their two young centrepieces.
The Canadiens have agreed to terms on an eight-year contract extension (2023-24 to 2030-31) with forward Cole Caufield.#GoHabsGohttps://t.co/BZ1gBIzndL
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) June 5, 2023
This is tremendous work by Kent Hughes and his team to get Caufield signed at a reasonable cap hit for eight years. In a previous article, we discussed what a good contract for Caufield would look like. I was a little worried the Canadiens were going to have to overpay to keep a young star here for eight years or have to sign him to a bridge deal, which can backfire as it did for the Flames when they signed Matthew Tkachuk to one a few seasons ago. Now, those worries are gone.
"Ideally, an eight-year deal with a cap hit of $7.5-8 Million is acceptable, anything more and you get into a murky area for me, and anything less seems unlikely. This is Kent Hughes’ first big test as a negotiator on the other side of the table, so it’ll be interesting to see how he does. You’d think this area would be one of his strong suits. We’ll have to see how it plays out, but I wouldn’t fret, a deal will get done, and Caufield will be a Canadien for a long time. You can count on that. – Ryan Praught"
This is sort of a have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too situation for the Canadiens and manager Kent Hughes. They got the term and didn’t have to overpay, and Kent Hughes showed what he brings to the table as a former player agent. This contract has the makings of being a steal down the road too. Last season, Caufield was on pace for 46 goals before he missed the rest of the year with an injury. Assuming Caufield can continue to develop and score goals like only he can, you might get 50 goals from a guy making less than $8 million a season.
The annual average value of $7.85 Million is right in the area I was comfortable with, as I felt many of the comparables for Caufield were in that area. This is tidy work from the Canadiens’ management, and now a significant part of the off-season strategy is out of the way. Now the draft and all the prep work behind it can take full precedence.
It’s a great day to be a Canadiens fan, as a young superstar has signed on for another eight years. Now it’s time to get him more support, and the NHL Entry Draft is a great way to do that. With the Draft Combine starting today as well, the Habs are surely going to be busy. If you want to read up on some of the prospects the Canadiens might pick at number five, keep your eyes peeled for more prospect profiles like this one on Will Smith.
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