Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson is in the final year of his contract and is eligible to sign a contract extension. His agent Philippe Lecavalier told Richard Labbe of La Presse that the 31-year-old is hoping to re-sign. Matheson had a breakout showing in 2023-24 when he put up 62 points, putting him ninth among all NHL blueliners in that category. However, the emergence of Lane Hutson saw Matheson’s offensive minutes drop and the end result was a drop to 31 points. Noah Dobson is now in the fold which could similarly cut into his offensive chances even more. That could complicate things on a new contract as a blueliner who logs 25 minutes a night should be eyeing a raise from the $4.875MM he’s set to make this season but with Hutson and Dobson around, the Canadiens may not be inclined to pay market value for someone who probably won’t come close to that career high offensively again with them.
More from the Atlantic:
- In an interview with Jonas Siegel of The Athletic earlier this week (subscription link), Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube declined to speak about winger Nicholas Robertson’s situation, merely noting that there will be a lot of competition at training camp. In a follow-up column to that interview (subscription link), Siegel suggests that might not be an encouraging sign for the soon-to-be-24-year-old. Robertson notched 15 goals and seven assists in 69 games last season, earning him a $1.8MM contract to avoid salary arbitration but his fit in Toronto’s lineup remains uncertain at best. He remains a player to keep an eye on when it comes to a trade over the coming weeks, especially if it looks like he’ll be on the outside looking in at a lineup spot in early October.
- Speaking with reporters at their charity golf tournament (video link), Bruins GM Don Sweeney indicated that the team will begin the upcoming season without a captain. While veterans David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy are the presumptive favorites and could plausibly be appointed now without much issue, Sweeney wants the captaincy progress to come more organically over simply appointing someone to the role now, even though one of those two could very well end up with the role down the road.
What the Bruins want is a reason to give it to McAvoy instead of pasta which they know wouldn’t look good right now after last season.
I’m not sure anyone sees Pasta as the team captain type. That includes Pasta himself. But I said the same thing about Marchand, and they still did that.