The topic of the day for the Habs today was Noah Dobson. The Islanders are currently evaluating their options with the defenseman, who doesn’t appear to be on track to sign a long-term contract on Long Island, and the Habs are among the teams pushing hard for his services.
Chris Johnston, in the last hour, confirmed that he’s hearing the same thing as everyone else: the Islanders are talking to the Habs and Blues for the services of their defenseman, who would like to come to Montreal.
What we learned earlier this evening is that Dobson is looking for more than $10 million per year on his next contract. In a context where the salary cap will be going up a lot in the next few years, this makes sense… but it’s still an amount that strikes the imagination.
So, if Kent Hughes wants to get his hands on Dobson, he’ll have to be prepared to pay dearly for both the transaction and the defenseman’s contract… but there’s another place where it could all cost him: Lane Hutson’s contract.
Because right now, in Montreal, Hutson is the big name on the blue line. And in a world where Dobson is coming to town, you really have to wonder if Hutson would be willing to sign for less money than him.
Because in reality, Hutson has some arguments in his favor, coming off a 66-point season in his first year in the NHL. Dobson, on the other hand, has only achieved this once in his career: a 70-point campaign in his fifth year on the Bettman circuit.
And in the NHL, you get paid primarily for your offensive contributions.
That said, it’s important to remember that Dobson is much closer to full autonomy than Hutson is. There’s a difference between buying arbitration years (which are worth less) and full autonomy years (which are worth much more).
And on their next respective contracts, Dobson would be bought many more years of full autonomy.
It’s also possible to argue that Dobson is a superior defenseman to Hutson… but the latter, who would logically sign his contract after Dobson, would have the advantage of using the newcomer’s pact as a comparison in his negotiations and, if he so wished, try to confirm his status as a leader on the Montreal brigade.
Right now, Lane Hutson’s agent must be following all this very closely… because a transaction that would bring Dobson to Montreal would have a huge impact on his client’s future. And that’s part of this new phase in the Habs’ rebuilding, because talent comes at a high price.
