The low season that leads to the 2025-26 season continues, and with the large events such as the NHL Entry Draft and Free Agent Frenzy completed, the dog days of summer clothing absorb while NHL management groups take a little breathing break before the training camps start. In this series I will try to investigate every schedule of Montreal Canadiens, summarize their last season and look ahead to this coming season. I will investigate their role within the organization, their responsibilities and their potential impact.
Related: Mike Matheson gives the Montreal Canadiens a great trading ship
In the next step of the series I will continue to look at the Blue Line Corps of the Canadiens, continue with Mike Matheson.
2024-25 season Summary
Matheson arrived in the 2023-24 season as the number one defender in the Canadiens. He played most minutes in all situations. He also contributed considerably to the attack with 11 goals and 62 points. As soon as the 2024-25 season began, it was expected that he would stay in that role and performance level, but soon Lane Hutson disappeared him on the top unit of the Power Play (PP) and took the burden of many of the attacking five-on-five situations head coach Martin St. Louis, Martin St. Louis.
With the loss of roles, there was a remarkable decrease in offensive production, so that only six goals and 31 points fell. With the arrival of Hutson who pushed him into the line -up, Matheson had to reinvent himself and accept the lesser roles that he was asked to play. To his honor, he recorded the responsibilities as a real professional. He offered the veteran aid that the young line-up needed and also took on more defensive responsibilities, played a matchup role at five-on-five and took more ice age on the Prenty Killing (PK) units. Although it was the least amount of points he scored in a full season, his average ice age of 25:05 per match led the Canadiens and also played a role in their new, stable blue line, linging the team to the play -offs.
In the play -offs, Matheson formed the top combination with Alexandre Carrier, but their Advanced statistics were somewhat inconsistent. Their Corsi for percentage (CF%) was 53.1%and their expected goals for percentage (XGF%) were low at 35.98%. Although they were the most used pairs, the most effective was that of Kaiden Guhle and Lane Hutson with a CF% of 61.29% and an XGF% of 61.31%.
2025-26 season expectations
If Matheson de Last season of his contract That pays him $ 4,875 million per season, Managing Director (GM) has Hughes is now confronted with a difficult decision: sign him on a contract extension or exchange him to meet other needs. Matheson’s performance and leadership make him a legitimate candidate for a contract extension, but it depends on the term and the salary that remains a bargain. With the salary limit of the NHL to $ 104 million in 2026-27 and up to $ 113 million in 2027-28, it will probably depend on the CAP percentage for his salary. This means that with a salary limit of $ 95.5 million, his salary is only 5.1% of the total limit, which would translate to $ 5.3 million, and is that something that the point-claire, Quebec residents is willing to accept to continue playing in his home town?
For the Montreal management group, the problem is to ensure that they continue to insulate their young players. Sometimes you need veterans such as Matheson as support, so that they are not forced to record roles and responsibilities before they are ready, just like what happened to Hutson last season. This was not unnoticed by management as executive vice -president Jeff Gorton, in a Interview with Jimmy Murphy on rg.orgMatheson identified as an important player on this point of the rebuilding.
“… He has been a whole, very, solid player for us. He is a very good penalty murderer; he plays against the best players every night, and there is not much that he doesn’t.”
– Jeff Gorton
With so many young defenders who are still developing, there is still a place for him. Matheson has shown the possibility to offer Positive statistics of puck ownership He is linked to almost everyone. This makes him an essential piece to support young people such as Arber Xhekaj or Jayden Struble. He will also have to continue his strong defensive game while helping at the PK that Montreal helped last season with the ninth best PK in the NHL at 80.9%.
For Matheson there is nothing more that he can do than continue playing a role that is asked to him. By showing his ability to adjust his game and offer veteran leadership, he proves his value for the Canadiens.
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