Canadiens make away like gangbusters with Hutson extension

The Montreal Canadiens shocked the NHL by extending Calder Trophy winner Lane Hutson on Monday. The deal came in at eight years, with an AAV of $8.85 million, insider Elliotte Friedman confirmed.

The biggest surprise comes not from the Habs locking down their best defenceman, but the price tag attached to the 21-year-old. Hutson’s contract actually came in under Jackson LaCombe and Luke Hughes’ deals, signed earlier this month.

That situation officially made the Canadiens come away like gangbusters. There’s no other way of putting it. Of course, the Habs are making a big bet on a very young player. There’s always the chance that he doesn’t live up to his contract moving forward.

But that’s not the attitude that contenders build their rosters. Contenders take shots on talented up-and-coming players. Most importantly, the Canadiens have cost certainty moving forward. The club now has Noah Dobson and Lane Hutson locked in for the foreseeable future. That’s huge from a salary cap perspective, as it allows the club to round out the roster with their remaining cap space.

In the meantime, GM Kent Hughes looks like a genius for making what could be the most team-friendly deal in club history.

Canadiens signed Hutson to front-loaded contract

Looking deeper into Lane Hutson’s extension, we can see a front-loaded deal. While Hutson’s cap hit will be $8.85 million over the contract’s lifetime, he’ll get $12 million the first two seasons.

In years 1 and 2, Hutson will get an $11 million signing bonus on top of his $1 million base salary. That’s a creative structure to ensure that his tax burden is minimized as much as possible.

Heading into year 3, Hutson will get $10.5 million with a $9.5 million signing bonus. From years 4 through 8, Hutson will get a $7.5 million salary in year 4, and then $7.2 million in years 5 through 8. His base salary will spike to $7.2 million in 2033-34, the final year of his deal. That season doesn’t have a signing bonus.

Interestingly, the contract does not include a no-trade clause until the final three years. In years 6 through 8, Hutson will get a 10-team modified no-trade clause. That situation means the Canadiens could trade Hutson to any team until the 2031-32 season. At that point, Hutson would have some say on where he could be traded.

Perhaps we’re getting ahead of ourselves by speculating that Hutson could be traded. But there’s always a chance of that in pro sports. Canadiens fans hope that will never be the case and that Hutson lives up to his contract until the time comes for another re-up in 2033.