The Montreal Canadiens have been doing their share of winning off the ice. Nick Suzuki just won the Selke Trophy, and the NHL as a whole agrees that Kent Hughes had a huge win when he signed Ivan Demidov to an eight-year deal worth $9.125 million per season.
This was another example of a great contract signed by Kent Hughes. He signed Nick Suzuki for $7.875 million per season on a deal that doesn’t end until 2030. Cole Caufield is making $7.85 million until 2031. Former first-overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky will make $7.6 million until 2033, and Lane Hutson signed for $8.85 million until 2034.
Add in Noah Dobson’s $9.5 million per season, and the Canadiens are still sitting pretty. Even with the volume of top scorers, their cap sheet is pretty clean.
And the big reason for that is the Canadiens are losing a lot of their bad contracts in the next few years. Phillip Danault, Josh Anderson, Kirby Dach, and Alexandre Carrier are all off the books after this season. Patrik Laine came off the books this past season. There aren’t many bad contracts left.
Yet, with so much cap space, Hughes might be feeling like he has to spend that money. Especially with the salary cap going up every year, the Canadiens should understand the risks that come with massive amounts of money available with a team that’s close to contender status.
The Canadiens made it to the Eastern Conference Finals last season, where they lost to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes. Last year shows that a young team can outperform expectations, but to keep competing, it takes perfect execution of the roster.
But, as much as the Canadiens have to focus on the present, they also have to look at the future.
This week, we’ve heard a lot about the “E” word. Expansion is apparently on the horizon. Multiple reports state that the NHL is more in the mindset of “when” not “if” when it comes to expansion, and some of the cities it’s researching are Houston, TX, Austin, TX, Atlanta, GA, and a return to Arizona.
Expansion will be the real test for Montreal Canadiens' GM Kent Hughes
With a possibility of four expansion drafts on the horizon, many might think the Canadiens could be at risk of losing one of their superstar players, but they are actually in good shape there. If the NHL goes with the expected protection format, where teams can either protect seven forwards, three defensemen, and one goalie or eight players, the Canadiens can protect all of their important players.
There is one wrinkle in this plan. According to those expansion rules, teams are required to protect players with a no-move clause. Because of this, the Canadiens would have to protect Mike Matheson if his contract still has such a clause at the time of the draft.
However, just one of those on the books is something Kent Hughes can work around. Where it can get dicey is if he starts using that clause to sign complementary players. Some teams have been giving out no-move clauses like it’s an assumption in contract negotiations. If Hughes doesn’t want to give players this option, he will lose players in free agency and possibly even in trades.
The Canadiens have to stand pat. Lose a player that you want to keep your cap clean. Make sure that you’re prepared for expansion. This should be a contender for more than a decade. Losing a star because of bad contract management would be grounds for release in certain situations.
We know expansion is coming. That should be in the back of Hughes’s mind in every contract negotiation.
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