With his entry-level contract nearing a close, Montreal Canadiens star Lane Hutson may not make as much money as some of his other peers on the blue line have in recent weeks.

In the days before the start of the 2025-26 season, the New Jersey Devils inked young defenseman Luke Hughes to a massive contract carrying a $9 million annual price tag. The Anaheim Ducks followed that up with a similar deal to young blue-liner Jackson LaCombe.

One would expect Hutson to earn that much from Montreal after his stellar Calder Trophy campaign in 2024-25, but the Canadiens may be able to find a workaround to keep his average annual value a bit lower.

Hutson, like Hughes, will be a 10.2(c) Restricted Free Agent at the end of the 2025-26 season. That means he will not be eligible for arbitration and will not be able to receive offer sheets from other teams. LaCombe had that advantage that Hutson will not have when he got the Ducks to match the massive deal Hughes got from the Devils.

Lane Hutson can still land a big contract from Canadiens

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The 21-year-old still has the ability to command a heavy price tag after scoring six goals and 66 points in his debut campaign, but there are a lot of factors pushing for and against his ability to secure his asking price from Montreal.

For one, the Canadiens just inked former New York Islanders star defenseman Noah Dobson to a deal carrying a $9.5 million cap hit that they can use as a hard ceiling. They also have status as one of the NHL's marquee six original franchises as a marketing tool.

But Montreal also has the heavy Quebec provincial tax to deal with, which could be a burden when trying to negotiate down the annual cap hit.

“There’s a lot there that when we talk to players around the league, the agents, people are excited about Montreal,” Gorton said in an exclusive interview with RG. “Yeah, the taxes we get that, and it’s definitely a thing, but there are ways around that. There are ways we can do certain things in Quebec and Montreal to help alleviate the tax issues, but we’re excited about Montreal and where we’re going, and I feel like, around the league, people are taking notice.”