The Montreal Canadians and Lane Hutson agreed to new contract extensions on Monday ahead of the team’s home opener on Tuesday night against the Seattle Kraken. Many wondered if the new contracts signed by Luke Hughes of the New Jersey Devils and Jackson LaCombe of the Anaheim Ducks would push Hutson and his camp to expect more.
However, if Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun told Gino Reda on TSN’s That’s Hockey on Mondayit was the contract signed by Connor McDavid that really influenced not only Hutson, but the Canadiens management in sticking to their plan and salary structure to keep the team competitive in the future.
NHLRumors.com Transcripts
Gino Reda: “Pierre, I understand it’s a lot of money, but it certainly seems like a team-friendly contract. Hutson’s deal will pay him less than Luke Hughes and Jackson LaCombe, who just signed their new contracts. Hutson is younger, but he did win the Calder last season. Are you surprised where he falls among those three with an AAV of 8.85?”
NHL Rumors: Lane Hutson wanted to get his deal done
Pierre LeBrun: “Well, I would just say I’m not surprised because if the deal got done this early in the season, it meant Canadiens management stayed the course and kind of got their way. If this deal had waited until next summer to get done, Gino, it might have been a different story. I mean, this is the pressure point on both sides.”
The Habs really, really needed this, because they have no control over other signings that continue to happen around the league, and who knows what will come down the pipe in the next seven to ten months as this salary cap landscape continues to move further north in the NHL. It might have been increasingly difficult for the Habs to continue to sell that cap culture and keep that number under $9 million.
But on the other hand you have Lane Hutson, who I think felt a lot of pressure to get this deal done. It weighed on him. He would be the first to tell you that he wasn’t playing his best hockey the first few games of the year. So that played a role in getting it done so early. But the bottom line is that, to some extent, the Habs definitely got a steal here, because with every day that passes in the new NHL salary cap landscape, the number only goes up for me.
But I’ll tell you what’s interesting, even though Luke Hughes and Jackson LaCombe’s $9 million per year deals were, timing-wise, not ideal for the Canadiens as they tried to get Lane Hutson under $9 million per year. I will tell you that one signing that could have been useful is Connor McDavid and his great signing for the Edmonton Oilers.
And the thing is, even if it’s apples and oranges, Hutson is an entry-level player. Connor McDavid’s would have clearly been a UFA in a year.
The message that Connor McDavid sent to his team was that he wanted the Oilers to be as competitive as possible during this period, during this new extension. That was part of Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton’s message to Lane Hutson, wanting their team to be as competitive as possible in the long run by perhaps leaving some money on the table for the Canadians. And that message has clearly come across.”
Again, the bottom line is that the player wants to win or take more money because he thinks he is worth it. Lane Hutson could have gotten $10 million if he wanted to. However, good teams that want to be consistent in Stanley Cup contenders stick to a salary structure and hold their core to an internal cap.
There’s a reason GM Kent Hughes and Executive Vice President Jeff Gorton are just locked up for five more seasons: they’re building the Montreal Canadiens the right way. For players like Lane Hutson, it’s more about winning than the mighty dollar.
NHL Rumors: After a pair of extensions last week, what’s next for the Montreal Canadiens?
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