The offseason has arrived for all but two teams now with the playoffs nearing an end. Accordingly, it’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Montreal.
After three straight seasons of being near the basement in the standings, the expectation was that the Canadiens would take a step forward in 2024-25. Instead, they may have taken more of a jump than expected as they ultimately secured the final playoff spot in the East before losing in five to Washington in the first round. Now, GM Kent Hughes has some work to do this summer to help his young group take another step forward next season or at least to keep them in the middle of the pack once more.
Move Price’s Contract
While it might seem odd to start this piece with a discussion of a player who hasn’t played since 2022, Carey Price has been making an impact on this group since then and his contract hasn’t helped things. He has been on LTIR for the last three years with a knee injury that he won’t be able to return from. The Canadiens have had to dip into using LTIR every season since then.
When the team wasn’t too worried about wins and losses as they went through the tougher early stages of their rebuild, this wasn’t too big of a deal. They had enough flexibility to recall players when needed and although there were bonus overage penalties, it didn’t matter much. But now they enter next season with the second-highest carryover penalty in the league at over $1.75MM per PuckPedia and it’s a number that could go higher for 2025-26 depending on bonuses reached.
If Montreal can offload Price’s contract to a team looking to just get over the spending floor as has happened in the past with long-term LTIR players, the Canadiens could go back to banking in-season cap space and eliminate the potential for a carryover penalty. It would also increase their regular spending room from around $8MM to $18MM, giving Hughes the ability to try to add a piece or two without having to worry about triggering going into LTIR once more.
But this is one of those files that needs to be figured out early and dealt with later. Price has a $5.5MM signing bonus due that teams are going to want the Canadiens to pay. But unlike most bonuses which are paid on July 1st, his is owed on September 1st. After that, he has a $2MM base salary that insurance will cover the bulk of, making a trade much more palatable at that time.
That said, in order to add when most of the free agent signings and trades are made, Montreal would need to know by then if they have a deal in place to help shape their player movement. Basically, they’ll be looking to reach an agreement on a deal in principle and then shelve it for at least two months. If a move is agreed on, that would make it one of the first things they do this offseason and likely their last at the same time.
Work On Hutson Extension
Last summer, Montreal worked quickly to get contract extensions done with two of its core players, signing winger Juraj Slafkovsky (eight years, $7.6MM AAV) and defenseman Kaiden Guhle (six years, $5.55MM AAV). In doing so, they kept their internal cap intact with both players signing for less than team captain Nick Suzuki ($7.875MM AAV). Accomplishing that with their extension-eligible core piece this summer will be trickier with defenseman Lane Hutson eligible for a new contract as of July 1st.
Hutson’s first full NHL season was certainly a strong one. He played in all 82 games and recorded six goals and 60 assists while logging a little under 23 minutes a night of ice time. With 66 points, he finished tied with Winnipeg’s Josh Morrissey for sixth in that category among blueliners league-wide. In assists, he was tied with Quinn Hughes for second, only behind Cale Makar. These are some of the top offensive blueliners in the league, players who received pretty substantial second contracts. Meanwhile, he also led all NHL rookies in points, three ahead of Matvei Michkov and Macklin Celebrini.
There are some recent comparables to work with here. Brock Faber (eight years, $8.5MM) and Owen Power (seven years, $8.35MM) come to mind while the second contracts to Makar (six years, $9MM) and Hughes (seven years, $7.85MM), while older, are probably worth noting as well. The cap hit percentage of those deals ranges from 8.9% to 11%. Knowing that the projected Upper Limit of the Salary Cap for 2026-27 is $104MM, that would approximate Hutson’s price tag between $9.256MM and $11.44MM.
Is that a price Montreal is willing to pay right now? Would they be better waiting and seeing how things go next season? It’s worth noting he won’t be eligible for an offer sheet which at least mitigates a bit of the risk of waiting. Or, is Hughes able to find a lower-cost price tag that both sides are comfortable with now?
Add Second Center
Finding a reliable second-line center has been an issue for Montreal for several years now, dating back to before the current management regime. And while Hughes has made a few attempts to solve that issue, none have managed to stick just yet.
First, Kirby Dach was brought in from Chicago with the hopes that a change of scenery could help him live up to his high draft billing. Instead, he has dealt with significant injuries in all three years, missing more games than he has played in. Alex Newhook was also acquired but he hasn’t been able to lock down a full-time spot down the middle yet and hasn’t produced enough to be a full-timer in the top six. They also had Sean Monahan for a stretch but used him as a trade chip, acquiring a first-round pick to take him on and then dealt him for a first-round pick the following season. While that was a tidy piece of business, it means that second pivot is still needed.
Internally, Jake Evans is more of a checker while prospects Oliver Kapanen and Owen Beck aren’t going to be ready to play in a top-six role next season, at least at the NHL level. And while they have hopes that Dach can bounce back, depending on a healthy and productive season shouldn’t be their preferred option at this point; they’d be wise to try to address this externally.
The free agent market has several veterans that could fill a short-term stopgap type of role, including Matt Duchene, Mikael Granlund, John Tavares, and Claude Giroux if he doesn’t re-sign with Ottawa. They’d undoubtedly inquire on Sam Bennett if he makes it to free agency as well. Failing that, Hughes will have to turn to trying to fill that spot via the trade route once again.
Add Veteran Right-Shot Defenseman
David Savard wasted little time ending any speculation about his future plans when he announced before the playoffs that he’d be retiring. That opens up one spot on Montreal’s back end to fill. Notably, his departure means that midseason acquisition Alexandre Carrier is the only right-shot defender on their roster at the moment. While teams can get away with having two instead of three, only having one is a little more difficult to navigate.
It’s worth noting that Montreal’s top two defensive prospects, David Reinbacher and Logan Mailloux, are both right-shot players. Mailloux saw a handful of NHL games this season while Reinbacher was injured for most of it but is playing a big role with AHL Laval in the playoffs. It’s possible that management envisions one of them filling in Savard’s role and leaving it at that.
However, that would mean going with just two defensemen above the age of 25 to start next season. That’s fine when you’re rebuilding but a lot riskier when you’re trying to push for a playoff spot. Accordingly, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to find a short-term veteran who could fill a similar role to Savard while also hedging against Mailloux and Reinbacher needing more development time. Ideally, that player would be a strong penalty killer as Savard logged more than three minutes per game shorthanded this season.
It’s not a great UFA class for right-shot, low-term veterans so this is also something they may want to look at the trade market for if they think one of Mailloux or Reinbacher will be ready soon. Alternatively, they can go for someone on a two-year or a three-year deal and shuffle things around if and when the youngsters are ready. Regardless of what route they take, adding at least a short-term stopgap on the right side of the back end is something they should be looking to do.
Photo courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images.
