According to his agent, Dan Milstein, Alexandre Texier has signed a two-year, $5MM ($2.5MM AAV) extension with the Montreal Canadiens. Texier originally joined the Canadiens on a one-year, $1MM contract in November after his previous contract with the St. Louis Blues was terminated.
At the beginning of the year, it would have been fair to question whether Texier would even be playing in the NHL next season, let alone signing an extension. Being a frequent healthy scratch by the Blues, Texier had recorded only one assist in eight games, averaging 10:15 of ice time per game.
Considering he was largely used as a depth forward for St. Louis in the previous season, it wasn’t surprising to see that Texier wanted to explore other options. Texier was placed on unconditional waivers for contract termination by the Blues, and once he cleared, he was signed by the Canadiens.
He has looked like a completely different player. Moving into a middle-six role with the Canadiens, he’s already surpassed his point totals across two years in St. Louis. In 25 games after signing with Montreal, Texier has scored seven goals and 16 points with a +7 rating. He’s already become the seventh-highest scoring forward on the team.
His advanced metrics have never looked better, either. He’s managing the highest CorsiFor% at even strength of his career with a 53.3% mark, and has averaged a 91.3% on-ice SV% at even strength, showing off his value as a two-way force.
It’s unrealistic to think that Texier will sustain his current scoring pace, as he’s never scored more than 30 points in a regular season. Still, even if he gets to that point over the duration of the contract, it will prove to be a solid investment by Montreal. If the upper limit of the salary cap reaches its expected levels, Texier will only be earning approximately 2.2% of the Canadiens’ available cap dollars by the 2027-28 campaign.
It likely didn’t require much negotiation to finalize this deal. Texier bet on himself at a time of great strife for his on-ice play, and the Canadiens must feel emboldened by the quality of play he’s shown since joining the team.
Why is it unrealistic to think he can keep up that pace? He’s a former second round pick and was an elite scorer in both Liiga and the NLA… he’s also only ever played 1 full season. Beyond the 78 games he played in 23-24 he hasn’t played more than 49-games in an NHL season before and if you remember, he struggled with both mental health and physical health issues.
Right now, he’s on pace for 23 goals and 53 points over 82 games. He has never scored more than 14 goals in the Liiga or NLA, and it has been almost a decade since he was drafted in the second round. I’m not saying it’s impossible by any stretch of the imagination, just unlikely, is all.
Doesn’t matter …as long as he plays with the drive he does now. The price is right. He can be less productive but still valuable depth. I think playing for Montreal MATTERS to him and that the real test of this contract will be how he responds to the attention he will get when things go bad for a stretch.
Most importantly, the guys who know what they are doing think it was time to make the offer.
Clearly, Kent Hughes doesn’t know the difference between catching lightning in a bottle, And a trend, Or, Sample size.
Clearly, Kent Hughes has proven to be a better judge of hockey talent than you can comprehend.
You should good Google hughes history before making a foolish comment like you just did .
I guarantee whatever team u cheer for would take 16 points and a plus 7 in 25 games . You just sound like a bitter little child
Solid signing. Even if he doesn’t stay on a line with CC and Suzy, he is good middle six depth.
Glad to see this guy moving along, lots of pitfalls and injuries. Now that he’s secure financially, let’s see what he can do.