It is no surprise that in Dom Luszczyszyn's latest NHL rankings for contract efficiency, the Montreal Canadiens rank as high as they did. They would finish second in the NHL, behind only the Carolina Hurricanes.
They received an A+ grade as a team, with four players receiving an A+ individual grade and two others receiving an A. Those two 'A' grades were the two latest contracts the Canadiens handed out this offseason after extending Ivan Demidov and Jakub Dobes.
Lane Hutson's contract considered the best in the entire NHL
However, Luszczyszyn notes that the Canadiens have the best contract in all of hockey with the extension Lane Hutson signed last October.
"Those contracts, though, don’t hold a candle to Lane Hutson’s deal, which is without question the best one in hockey. There’s a very strong chance Hutson is a top-10 defenseman for the entirety of his contract, and the model expects he won’t be close to 10th. He’s already that good and will only get better, which leads to a modeled value higher than the league max. That he makes less than $9 million for eight more years is pure robbery, leaving over $100 million on the table. "
Lane Hutson wasted little time making it to the NHL and making a huge impact after being drafted in the second round of the 2022 NHL Draft. He would make his NHL debut during the 2023-24 season, but it was only two games, but starting in 2024-25 he has been a full-time player for Montreal.
He has ended up playing every regular game over the past two seasons, winning the Calder Trophy as a rookie and finishing sixth in the Norris Trophy voting last season. The fact that he is only going to be 22 years old to begin the season and playing in his first season on that new eight-year contract, combined with what he has been able to do on the ice, makes it very easy to see why Luszczyszyn could come to the conclusion he did.
The Canadiens, with some of their top players already signed to long-term deals at very reasonable AAV, it gives them a huge advantage over the rest of the league. As the salary cap goes up, they should be able to be aggressive and add more to this core with the additional cap space.
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