Both the Habs and Hutson Got What They Wanted

According to Engels, there was also another contract on the table for Hutson, where he could sign for 8 years and $72 million but there wouldn’t be any signing bonuses attached to it. Considering how signing bonuses for American players playing in Canada are capped at only being taxed at 15% on signing bonuses, which means that bonuses get taxed a lot less than actual salary. Hutson’s deal will be 78% in signing bonuses, which will be $55 million of the $70.8 million that he will receive over the 8 years in the deal. That means Hutson will get to keep $46,750,000 of the $55 million in signing bonuses that were included before taxes.

This is a loophole that the Habs can only take advantage of until the new CBA kicks in at the end of the 2025-26 season, which is why getting this deal done as soon as possible was important for both sides.

Another reason why the contract benefits Hutson so greatly is that he gets long-term security with the team that he wants to play with for the rest of his career. On the Shaun Starr and Marco D’Amico podcast, D’Amico joked that if Hutson could sign for 16 years, he would. Being in Montreal is clearly something that Hutson wants, and he will get to do that for the next 9 years, including the final season of his Entry Level deal.

As for the Canadiens side, it benefits them even greater than it likely does Hutson. Engels believes that this contract could set the Canadiens up to compete for multiple Stanley Cups, as they have the money to make the acquisitions to help build the team in the long term. This contract is the perfect team-friendly deal that allows the Canadiens to add depth down the road that could be the difference maker in putting them over the top down the line.

It’s crazy to think that despite the cap going up, the Habs are positioned to not have anyone making $10 million a year for a couple more years. There is the chance that Demidov will be that guy to surpass $10 million, but it’s still too early to tell if he is worth that just yet. On top of that, because of the culture that every player has bought into over the last few years, it’s possible that while being worth $10 million at the time, when it’s time to discuss Demidov’s new contract, he takes less than market value. Only time will tell what happens with Demidov’s contract, but with Hutson’s deal, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if Demidov does something similar as well.

The culture to take less than market value seems to be ingrained into the players as a result of how Kent Hughes, Jeff Gorton and Martin St. Louis want the team to be. This whole culture goes from captain Nick Suzuki all the way down to Joe Veleno, who is the team’s 13th forward. Everyone seems to be buying into what management is selling. 

This is the type of attitude that could eventually lead to the 25th Stanley Cup victory that the city of Montreal has been desperately looking to get for 32+ years.

For close to the next decade, the Canadiens are in a great spot to compete. They should continue to be one of the biggest threats in the league if they can stay relatively healthy during that span of time.

Do you believe this management and current core of players can help the Montreal Canadiens win their 25th Stanley Cup in the next 8-10 years?