"The Montreal Canadiens signed Lane Hutson to a mind-shockingly low contract extension on Monday. The Habs locked up Hutson on an eight-year deal worth $8.85 million per season. That's actually below what other young blueliners like Jackson LaCombe and Luke Hughes got from their respective teams. The talk was that Hutson could fetch above $10 million AAV, but that was not the case."
"In part, as Marco D'Amico discussed in an RG Media post from October 3, the Canadiens offered various creative ways of structuring Hutson's contract to get around the heavy tax burden in Canada. Be that as it may, the overall cap hit on Hutson's contract has slammed the brakes on an arms race that promised to take young blueliner contracts to the moon. Several pundits proclaimed that Hutson could get over $10 million per season on his extension."
"But the reality has completely taken the wind out of those sails. In fact, Hutson's extension has had an effect similar to the one Connor McDavid's deal had on the UFA forward market. Had Hutson taken the Habs to the cleaners, other young defensemen coming up could have used his deal as a comparable. That won't be the case now. And because of Hutson, other clubs can wield leverage over their up-and-coming blueliners."
Lane Hutson signed an eight-year contract with an $8.85 million average annual value. That AAV is lower than recent deals for young defensemen such as Jackson LaCombe and Luke Hughes. Montreal employed creative contract structuring to address Canada's heavy tax burden. The contract's modest cap hit halts an accelerating market for young blueliners and negates expectations that comparable deals would exceed $10 million AAV. The deal dampens leverage for future RFAs who might have used a higher Hutson contract as precedent. Hutson qualified as a 10.2(c) RFA and was ineligible for arbitration or offer sheets, limiting his negotiating power.
Read at Puck Prose
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