Maintaining a core of young players will be key for the Montreal Canadiens, who will have several youngsters who spent an extended time with the big club ready to keep improving their respective games for the 2024-25 season. Some will also be eligible for contract extensions in the 2024 offseason, including a couple of big-time players.
It ultimately depends on whether general manager Kent Hughes is looking to keep building his team inward or if he’s interested in adding another talent or two from the outside, as the Habs do have limited cap space this offseason - roughly $8.5 million before factoring in LTIR regarding goaltender Carey Price at the time of this writing - LTIR that will carry into next season when those eligible for an extension this summer will see their respective contracts kick in.
But if Hughes were more interested in ensuring his homegrown talent sticks around long-term or at least on a bridge deal, who will he extend once July 1st rolls around and why?
A few Canadiens players deserve contract extensions in the offseason
Something to keep in mind is that we won’t cover every player who would technically be available for a contract extension. Some, like Joel Armia, for example, won’t be listed here because it’s unlikely they will receive an extension during the offseason or at some point during the 2024-25 season.
Instead, we’re talking about younger, more notable names, so you can also forget about David Savard and unrestricted free agents for 2025 who aren’t likely to sign long-term deals like Christian Dvorak, who will be heading into his age-28 season.
I’m also focusing mainly on players who spent at least a half season with the big club, so a few others eligible for extensions will also be excluded from this list. And finally, this is not the same piece as the pending restricted free agent article from back in April, as they focused on 2024 free agents.