The Montreal Canadiens still have $10.2 million in cap space remaining with Arber Xhekaj and Justin Barron as the only players left to sign their restricted free-agent deal. The good news for the Canadiens is they have most of their higher-priced contracts locked up long-term, with just Kaiden Guhle and Jake Evans being a restricted free agent next season. They also have some UFAs like David Savard upcoming, but there's a good chance Savard will be dealt to a different team before he reaches that status with the Habs.
The Canadiens are in a great spot for the future with their cap situation. They may not be as far away from contending as fans may think, and their potential will be through the roof if Jacob Fowler becomes a star for them with Ivan Demidov and Michael Hage in 3-4 years.
The recent closing of CapFriendly has eliminated Habs' fans resource for salary cap news. Let's take a look at their salary cap situation broken down by term remaining and cap hit.
Forwards
Player | Term | AAV |
|---|---|---|
Nick Suzuki | UFA - 2030 | $7.88 million |
Cole Caufield | UFA - 2031 | $7.85 million |
Brendan Gallagher | UFA 2027 | $6.5 million |
Josh Anderson | UFA 2027 | $5.5 million |
Christian Dvorak | UFA 2025 | $4.45 million |
Joel Armia | UFA 2025 | $3.4 million |
Kirby Dach | RFA 2026 | $3.36 million |
Alex Newhook | RFA 2027 | $2.9 million |
Jake Evans | UFA 2025 | $1.7 million |
Rafael Harvey-Pinard | RFA 2025 | $1.1 million |
Juraj Slafkovsky | UFA 2033 | $950k next season/ $7.6 million starting in 2025-26 |
Michael Pezzetta | UFA 2025 | $813k |
Defense
Player | Term | AAV |
|---|---|---|
Mike Matheson | UFA 2026 | $4.88 million |
David Savard | UFA 2025 | $3.5 million |
Jordan Harris | RFA 2025 | $1.4 million |
Lane Hutson | RFA 2026 | $950k |
Kaiden Guhle | RFA 2025 | $863k |
Arber Xhekaj | RFA 2024 | ? |
Goaltenders
Player | Term | AAV |
|---|---|---|
Sam Montembeault | 2027 UFA | $3.15 million |
Cayden Primeau | 2025 RFA | $890k |