The Montreal Canadiens finally made the postseason for the first time since 2021 last season. They pushed in their chips in the offseason, trading two first-round picks for defenseman Noah Dobson. And the Canadiens already have a defenseman with a bright future, as Lane Hutson enters his second season after winning the Calder Trophy. The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun spoke about Hutson's next contract after the New Jersey Devils extended Luke Hughes.
“The Hutson camp would prefer to look at Hughes as an apples-to-apples defenceman comp (even though Hughes played two full NHL seasons when signing his new deal, while Hutson has one full NHL season under his belt),” LeBrun reported. “But $9 million for a young defenceman coming out of entry level is now the board regardless.”
The Devils kept Hughes on the long-term contract they were hoping for after a long stand-off. Jack Hughes is also on a long-term deal with New Jersey, but his $8 million AAV is considered one of the best deals in the league. LeBrun pondered whether the relative bargain that Jack was on could have bumped Luke's salary up in negotiations. That is not something Hutson has at his disposal. Cole Hutson is a second-round pick of the Washington Capitals and is playing at Boston University next season.
The Canadiens will be using other contracts as comparables for Hutson, per LeBrun. Both Mason McTavish and Dustin Wolf had comparable rookie seasons to Hutson and signed similar contracts with their teams this summer.
“Even though they’re not defencemen, the Habs could point to Hutson’s runner-up in Calder Trophy voting, Dustin Wolf, the Calgary Flames’ MVP last season, who just signed for seven years at $7.5 million AAV. They could also point to the Ducks’ McTavish, a young core player who just signed for six years at $7 million AAV,” LeBrun also reported.
