HabsWorld.net --
Montreal’s top pending unrestricted free agent won’t be hitting the market in July after all. The Canadiens announced on Friday that they’ve signed defenceman Mike Matheson to a five-year, $30 million contract extension.
The AAV of this next contract will be $6 million, a somewhat modest increase on the $4.875 million cap charge he has had over each of the last eight seasons.
Matheson is in his fourth season with the Habs after being acquired from Pittsburgh in the 2022 offseason. The 31-year-old had been used in more of a limited role with the Penguins but that immediately changed after being acquired as he has been a fixture on Montreal’s top pairing for the majority of his tenure with the organization.
His best season offensively came back in 2023-24 when he collected 11 goals and 51 assists in 82 games while averaging a career-high 25:33 per night. However, Lane Hutson came into the fold the following season, quickly taking over the top power play role and seeing the top offensive minutes. The result was a 50% drop in points to 31.
The Habs then added Noah Dobson in a draft day swap with the Islanders back in June, further pushing Matheson down the offensive depth chart as he also joined the power play. That made projecting a contract for Matheson to be rather tricky as his open-market value would be more reflective of what he has shown he can do with those prime offensive minutes compared to what was likely to be a dip in points based on his role with Montreal.
Clearly, the two sides found a compromise they were both content with in this contract. Meanwhile, Matheson is off to a strong start offensively this season with 14 points through his first 22 appearances.
With this signing, Montreal’s top four defenders (Hutson, Dobson, Matheson, and Kaiden Guhle) are locked up through the 2030-31 campaign with the first two locked up beyond that. That gives the Habs a strong, albeit expensive foundation to work off of; those four combine for a cap hit of $29.85 million.
While a five-year term for someone who will turn 32 before this contract even begins carries some risk, there was certainly a trade-off between the two sides. In exchange for a longer term, the Habs get Matheson locked up at what feels like a well below-market rate.
Out of their full-time roster players, the only pending UFA the Canadiens have now is Patrik Laine who won’t be back for several more months. All their other free agents are presently slated to be restricted although some might ultimately not be tendered a qualifying offer in June.
