When we think of the Canadiens’ summer projects, we often talk about possible acquisitions that could be made to improve the club. The question of a second center is one that often comes up… and the next few weeks are likely to be decisive in this matter.
With the draft coming up and the free agent market set to open in the next month, it’s going to get a lot of attention.
That said, the club still has a number of internal issues to deal with. They’ll have to decide whether to keep their unrestricted free agents in the making (Christian Dvorak and Joel Armia), but there’s also the case of Lane Hutson that’s got everyone talking.
The diminutive defenseman, who broke all records this season, is still under contract for next season. That said, as of July 1, he can sign a contract extension… and there are a ton of fans who’d love to see him sign long-term in town.
Because clearly, he’s a special talent.
However, Arpon Basu (The Athletic) has published an interesting article in which he concludes that it wouldn’t be particularly surprising if this case took a long time to settle… because everyone benefits from patience.
Comparing the case of the Habs defenseman to that of other defensemen in the same situation over the past few years, we can see that Hutson is already substantially at the peak of his value. After all, he’s already broken it all this season… and even another big offensive campaign wouldn’t boost his value too much, given that he’s already done it.
In fact, what might boost his value might be if he takes it to the next level defensively… but then again, it’s for his offensive skills that #48 will break the bank.
Hutson’s camp, meanwhile, would be well advised to wait in the event that Kent Hughes, who has demonstrated over the past few years that he’s willing to wait to get the deal he’s looking for, isn’t willing to pay the big price, especially if he feels he’d rather not overpay for a defenseman who has excelled, yes, but in extremely favorable minutes.
Hutson hasn’t had to deal with big defensive assignments this season, after all… and maybe the Habs will try to hit that nail on the head to get the price down.
I get the impression that the defenseman would like to settle this as quickly as possible so he can concentrate on hockey… but there’s a world out there in which this file is dragging on a bit because negotiations are a little more complicated than expected. And while Hughes signed Juraj Slafkovský long-term the first day he could, he was also willing to wait another year with Cole Caufield.
And Hutson isn’t eligible to sign an offer sheet next summer… which means that even if it drags on into the off-season next year, the Habs aren’t risking much.
At his end-of-season press briefing, we got the impression that Kent Hughes wasn’t in any particular hurry to settle the matter… and when you look at the situation, it’s a little easier to understand why.
Still, I have a feeling that the defenseman will have a long-term deal in his pocket before the start of the 2025-26 season… but maybe it won’t come on July 1 either. And if it does come on July 1, it’ll probably mean that the Habs got him at a (very) good price.
