Earlier this summer, Mike Matheson’s future was a big topic in town. The defenseman will be playing out the final year of his contract this season, and with all the young defensemen in town, you have to wonder if there’s still a place for Matheson in Montreal.
That said, the veteran’s case is special because, for the time being, he’s still an extremely important player for the Habs. He’s a rare veteran in town, but more importantly, he’s a guy who can eat up minutes and excel in many game situations.
Jeff Gorton is the first to admit it: Matheson is a very solid player for his team.
So you have to wonder if, by the same token, there’s a world in which Matheson could sign a contract extension… and on that subject, AFP Analytics offers projections for potential contract extensions via the CapWages site.
And when we look at Matheson’s, we see that the site projects a four-year contract that would bring in… $6.5 million a year for the defenseman.
That would be a salary increase for the $4.875 million-per-year defenseman on his current contract, but more importantly, it raises the question of whether this is a contract the Canadiens would be interested in.
In a skyrocketing cap, $6.5 million a year isn’t too bad for a top-4 defenseman… but the four-year term could be problematic.
At $6.5 million a year, Matheson would likely rank 3rd on the Habs blue-line salary scale, behind Noah Dobson and, probably, Lane Hutson. Kaiden Guhle, at $5.55 million a year, would be behind the top line.
It’s also interesting to look at the projections for Zachary Bolduc, who will also need a new contract for the 2026-27 season. In his case, we’re projecting a two-year transition contract at $2.9 million a year… or a longer, six-year contract at $5.3 million a year.
It would be risky to sign him before he’s even played a single game with the Habs, we agree… but it has the potential to be a real bargain.
Obviously, all this is subject to change over the coming months depending on player performance… but it’s interesting to take the pulse of the market right now.
And above all, it’s interesting to wonder whether Kent Hughes should sign these players to such high contracts.
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