Montreal Canadiens Sign Andrew Shaw To A 6 Year Deal Worth $23.4MM

Montreal Canadiens signed forward Andrew Shaw to a six-year extension today worth $23.4MM. The contract’s cap hit is $3.9MM a year—slightly lower than the $4.5MM Shaw was rumored to be seeking. The Canadiens did not include any NTCs or NMCs. Pierre Lebrun of ESPN reports that the contract is front-loaded and Cap Friendly gives us details on it:

2016 – $5.5MM ($2.5MM signing bonus)
2017 – $5MM ($2MM signing bonus)
2018 – $4MM 
2019 – $3.25MM ($1MM signing bonus)
2020 – $2.75MM 
2021 – $2.9MM ($1MM signing bonus)

Montreal acquired Shaw from the Blackhawks in exchange for the 39th and 45th pick in the 2016 NHL Draft. The young forward scored 14G and 34P in 78 games last season, and 6P in 6 games in the playoffs. Shaw was considered an integral but underrated part of the Blackhawks’ playoff teams regardless of his run-of-the-mill production.

The signing leaves the Canadiens with approximately $8.03MM in cap space to work to land another free agent this summer. The Canadiens expect to be big players in the off-season, and Shaw’s contract does not unduly hamstring them.