{"id":805577,"date":"2026-07-16T12:04:25","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T12:04:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/805577\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T12:04:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T12:04:25","slug":"canadiens-best-contracts-for-2026-27-the-hockey-writers-montreal-canadiens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/805577\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadiens\u2019 Best Contracts for 2026-27 – The Hockey Writers – Montreal Canadiens"},"content":{"rendered":"

While Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes has been largely silent on the free-agent front this summer, forward Kirby Dach\u2019s arbitration hearing<\/a> is scheduled for July 30. He remains one of a few restricted-free-agent Habs still needing contracts for next season (Zachary Bolduc<\/a>, Arber Xhekaj).<\/p>\n

So, technically, this list of the team\u2019s best contracts for 2026-27 (excluding entry-level deals) can still change. However, based on sheer logic, with each of those above players still having a lot to prove, it\u2019s unlikely fans will be blown away by whatever each of their deals end up looking like.<\/p>\n

In comparison, the following five have already begun to demonstrate their worth to the organization, as evidenced by how the Canadiens effectively rushed to get their deals and negotiated early in each case:<\/p>\n

Alexandre Texier ($2.5 million cap hit)<\/p>\n

Just look at Alexandre Texier, who initially signed on for one year and $1 million in November (upon having his contract terminated by the St. Louis Blues) only to re-sign for two more<\/a> less than two months later. Texier is actually very polarizing in that, when he signed his extension, he had been coming off an especially successful stretch, during which he scored three points in consecutive games and eight over four contests (before ending his 43 games with the Canadiens with 20 points), prompting cynics to argue Hughes committed too soon.<\/p>\n

Any suggestion to that effect must be met with a loud guffaw, considering said commitment is only for two seasons and for a reasonable $2.5 million hit. Had Hughes really thought Texier was going to continue scoring at two-point-per-game pace, he certainly would have locked him up for longer. The fact is, everyone with brain waves understood Texier was the beneficiary of injuries at the time and resulting ice time with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. That includes Hughes.<\/p>\n

It was never going to last. However, for a player who has proven capable of contributing up and down the lineup and scoring 30 points over a full season, the deal was (and is) 100% objectively a good one.<\/p>\n

Juraj Slafkovsky ($7.6 million)<\/p>\n

All things taken into account, Hughes was taking more of a risk re-signing Juraj Slafkovsky when he did (July 1, 2024), because, despite being a first-overall pick in 2022<\/a>, the Slovak hadn\u2019t really shown anything but potential of sustained success as a top-line player. He underwhelmed as a rookie and, while his 20-goal, 50-point sophomore effort in 2023-24 was a huge step in the right direction, the 51 points he followed that up with (after signing the extension) didn\u2019t exactly reinforce the notion Slafkovsky would take another. <\/p>\n

However, any doubters as to Slafkovsky\u2019s ability were forced to eat humble pie this past year, the first of the deal. Slafkovsky, who is under contract until 2033 with a cap hit of $7.6 million, scored a career-high 30 goals and 73 points, further establishing himself as a top-line presence (while also playing a significant portion of the season away from Suzuki and Caufield). <\/p>\n

With inflation in the years ahead, the cap hit would probably be considered good value if Slafkovsky stayed at around 50 points. If he can continue to produce at this next level he\u2019s reached though, the contract will constitute highway robbery. And, oh, yeah, he\u2019s only 22, meaning he realistically could level up again.<\/p>\n

Cole Caufield ($7.85 million)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s understandable if you hesitate to put Caufield in the same stratosphere as Nathan MacKinnon ($12.604 million cap hit), the only other player to score 50 goals this past season, with the former becoming the first Habs player since Stephane Richer in 1990 to hit the milestone. However, look at Caufield\u2019s entire career:<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old has scored 169 goals in 368 games. That translates to an average of nearly 38 goals per 82 games, which still puts him in similar territory as wingers like Kyle Connor ($12 million), Martin Necas ($11.5 million) and Pavel Dorofeyeve ($11 million). The difference is Caufield, who scored at a point-per-game pace for the first time in his career, showing more than one dimension to his game, is younger than them all. He\u2019s also much more affordable.<\/p>\n

Lane Hutson ($8.85 million)<\/p>\n

All on its own, defenseman Lane Hutson<\/a>\u2019s 2025 Calder Memorial Trophy wouldn\u2019t justify his $8.85 million cap hit. That would be the wrong way to look at it. Instead, it\u2019s his list of historic accolades from that season<\/a> that won him the award and earned him the deal, especially seeing as it\u2019s also a list to which he continues to add, having just tied Hockey Hall of Famer Larry Robinson\u2019s single-season assists record (for a Canadiens defenseman) with 66.<\/p>\n

\"LaneMontreal Canadiens defensemen Lane Hutson and Noah Dobson \u2013 (Eric Bolte-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

Having scored that many points as a rookie and having just tallied 78 as a sophomore (12 goals), Hutson provided incredible value to the Canadiens over the course of his entry-level contract, to put it mildly. His extension, which he signed last October, comes into effect this coming season, and, based solely on his output so far, should still rank among the best in the entire league.<\/p>\n

For added context, one of the defensemen to which he is most compared, Quinn Hughes, had just finished the first year of his current deal when Hutson got drafted in the second round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. Hughes\u2019 contract, which ends next season, has a cap hit of $7.85 million, just $1 million less than Hutson\u2019s, five years later. Over his entry-level deal, Hughes scored 11 goals and 97 points in 129 games. In contrast, Hutson has scored 18 goals and 146 points in 166 games.<\/p>\n

Come to whichever conclusion you like\u2026 or better yet reserve judgment until Hughes signs his next contract, after Hutson just outscored him this past season, albeit by a couple of points. If you think Hughes\u2019 next contract is going to even compare to Hutson\u2019s current one, which only expires in 2034, you really haven\u2019t been paying attention to the market.<\/p>\n

Nick Suzuki ($7.875 million)<\/p>\n

Based on the Canadiens\u2019 healthy salary-cap situation<\/a>, it really does appear as though there\u2019s a culture at work in the locker room where players consciously decide to leave money on the table, in a high-tax market to boot. If there is a culture to that effect, its beginnings trace back to captain Nick Suzuki<\/a> signing an eight-year, $63 million deal in October 2021 (which would only kick in for the 2022-23 season).<\/p>\n

Credit where it\u2019s due, as Marc Bergevin was still the general manager then (before he would get fired a few months later). However, it\u2019s a culture that has obviously bled into Hughes\u2019 tenure, where the Canadiens\u2019 core players have each been locked up into the long term, without any exceeding $10 million in average annual value. To put that into perspective, Bergevin also signed goalie Carey Price to an eight-year extension that carried a $10.5 million hit back in 2017, a deal that officially expired just a few days ago. Needless to say, the Habs are in the minority in terms of their salary structure, which is all the more impressive taking into account their recent success (and the success they\u2019re still forecasted to enjoy).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s incredible to think Suzuki\u2019s contract was assessed analytically as one of the worst in the league<\/a> heading into that 2022-23 season. Blame the model or blame the writer, but there is blame to go around as it was clear Suzuki, who had been coming off a career-best 61-point season on a last-place team, was coming into his own as a then-22-year-old first-line centre.<\/p>\n

Now an undeniable No. 1 centre, Suzuki has improved his point totals each season since, not only reaching 100 in 2025-26 (becoming the first Hab since Mats Naslund in 1985-86 to do so) but also capturing the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the league\u2019s best defensive forward. It\u2019s an assessment that has aged horribly, in sharp contrast to Suzuki\u2019s contract. Models be damned. The deal was objectively never one of the worst, but it is now one of the best in the entire NHL and the best on the Canadiens as we speak, as a result.<\/p>\n

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