Latest Developments Revealed on Lane Hutson Contract Talks with Canadiens
With their young star defenceman set to become a restricted free agent after the coming season, the Montreal Canadiens are engaged in early negotiations on what an extension would look like with Rookie of the Year Lane Hutson.
The 21-year-old took Montreal and the NHL by storm in his first season this past year, racking up an astounding 60 assists and 66 points in 82 games, all the while quarterbacking the Habs' first power play unit, and throwing in 123 blocked shots for good measure.
Marco D'Amico reports in rg.org that, although it's been about six weeks since he's been eligible for an extension, early negotiations on a long-term deal for Hutson have been "very amicable," but there are a number of factors under consideration.
One source told D'Amico that the Canadiens are in a very strong negotiating position, given Hutson's very short career arc at this time:
Hutson doesn’t really have a large amount of leverage in this situation, outside of his excellent on-ice play, simply because he is not eligible for any offer sheets, and he doesn’t have any arbitration rights either.
That's not to say that the Habs won't do right by him, but it is a factor in determining his comps when coming up with the right price. And Montreal's newest young star blueliner, Noah Dobson (who received an eight-year, $9.5 million deal in a sign-and-trade last month), is NOT one of those comps.
Teammate Noah Dobson is not a comparable for a Lane Hutston extension
“Dobson is at a different point in his career than Hutson, not to say one is better than the other. But, in the world of contracts, RFA years are worth substantially less than UFA years,” a source told D'Amico.
“So, for Dobson, who was one year away from being a free agent, who plays top-pair minutes and shoots right – a major commodity in the NHL – then you can see why he went for the price point he did,” said the NHL source. “But he had all the leverage in the world to command that kind of money because there are only about 7-8 players in the NHL with a similar profile under the age of 30.”
Hutson does not have that same kind of leverage.What will the terms of Lane Hutson's extension look like?
The proper comps for Hutson, said the source, would be Quinn Hughes, Jake Sanderson and Brock Faber, who signed their long-term deals at similar points in their careers. As D'Amico notes, each of them signed for somewhere between about 9% to 9.63% of the cap, which, in Hutson's case, with the $104M cap coming in 2026-27, would work out to an AAV of $8.8M-$9.5M on a six-to-eight-year agreement.
Hutson & Canadiens having amicable conversations on extension
But despite all this, don't despair, Habs fans. D'Amico does report that the two sides are eager to get a deal done. He says that "Sources indicate the Canadiens and Hutson's camp are in continual contract discussions," and are focused on an agreement. And one of his sources confirms this stance:Both parties are in a good space and there’s a good amount of mutual respect, but just very little rush from either party. I think it gets done eventually and on the longer-term.
"You’ll hear a lot of noise about it until it’s signed, but there’s very little to worry about.”
Photo; © David Kirouac-Imagn Images
