Over the past few weeks, talks between the Habs and Lane Hutson had intensified but they couldn’t get a deal across the finish line. That isn’t the case anymore as the team announced that they’ve signed the blueliner to an eight-year contract extension. The deal, which begins in the 2026-27 season, will carry a cap hit of $8.85 million. Of the $70.8 million in total value, $55 million of it will be paid in the form of signing bonuses, according to Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic. PuckPedia reports that the deal breaks down as follows:
2026-27: $1M salary, $11M signing bonus
2027-28: $1M salary, $11M signing bonus
2028-29: $1M salary, $9.5M signing bonus
2029-30: $1M salary, $6.5M signing bonus
2030-31: $1.2M salary, $6M signing bonus
2031-32: $1.2M salary, $6M signing bonus, 10-team no-trade clause
2032-33: $2.2M salary, $5M signing bonus, 10-team no-trade clause
2033-34: $7.2M salary, 10-team no-trade clause
If it seems odd that Hutson only received trade protection in three years, players can only get that in UFA-eligible seasons. Since there are only three UFA years in the deal, those are the only ones he could get any sort of no-trade protection.
Hutson showed plenty of upside in his college career and didn’t look out of place in a two-game NHL debut at the end of the 2023-24 campaign. Still, there was some discussion leading into training camp if his development would be best served with some time in Laval. It didn’t take long for that talk to go away as by the time they were halfway into the preseason last fall, his spot on the roster was already secured.
Hutson then provided one of the best rookie seasons in franchise history and frankly, one of the better freshman years a defenceman has put up in NHL history. He tied Larry Murphy for the NHL record for most assists by a rookie defenceman while also setting the franchise record for most assists and points by a freshman blueliner. His 66 points were tied for the fourth-most all-time by an NHL defender. That earned him the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie.
Even in Montreal’s short playoff run last year, Hutson was able to be an impactful player, averaging an assist per game to lead the Canadiens in points.
Since Hutson burned the first year of his contract with that two-game appearance in April 2024, he became eligible for an extension as of July 1st. Considering that the Habs have been aggressive under GM Kent Hughes when it comes to signing their top young players to early extensions, it was widely expected that they’d attempt to do so here.
When Montreal acquired Noah Dobson in a sign-and-trade deal with the Islanders on draft day, they gave him a $9.5 million AAV that many viewed as a benchmark for Hutson even though their situations weren’t directly comparable. (Dobson’s deal had one RFA year and seven UFA seasons, while Hutson’s has five RFA and only three UFA years.) Some thought that would be the minimum price point for the 21-year-old while others felt that would be the internal ceiling given his relative inexperience and lack of eligibility for arbitration or even an offer sheet if he was unsigned next summer.
A few weeks ago, it looked like some progress was being made on this front but talks wound up briefly stalling after the deadline to include deferred money in the contract came and went last week. However, talks rekindled on Thursday in Detroit with the finishing touches being completed over the weekend.
Montreal now has its core three defenders (Hutson, Dobson, and Kaiden Guhle) signed through at least the 2030-31 season at a combined $23.9 million cap charge. While that’s a lot of money tied into a back end, that should age relatively well in the coming seasons as the cap continues to increase at a higher rate than it has in recent years. They join the core forward group of Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Cole Caufield who are locked up through at least the 2029-30 campaign. Suffice it to say, this core group will be in place for the long haul.
Looking ahead to next season, Montreal still has a little over $27 million in cap space, per PuckPedia. Some of that will need to go to RFAs like Zach Bolduc, Kirby Dach, and Arber Xhekaj while Mike Matheson and Patrik Laine are the UFAs of significance but even with this deal on the books, management will have a lot more flexibility next summer than they have in quite a while.