Ivan Demidov is the best signing of the summer

While we've seen several young players break the bank in recent weeks, Hughes agreed to an eight-year deal with the Russian forward at an average annual salary of $9.15 million.

Although Demidov becomes the highest-paid forward on his team, this is a very reasonable figure given the current market for a player who tallied 65 points—including 19 goals—in his rookie season and who could quickly become a steal once he reaches his full potential.

Furthermore, with the signings of the Russian and Jakub Dobes, the Canadiens have all the key members of their young core under contract for the next four years at below-market rates.

This clearly demonstrates Kent Hughes's excellent contract management when signing players, and this approach will increasingly pay off for the Habs as the salary cap rises.

This stands in stark contrast to the situation with the Ducks, who need to sign Cutter Gauthier to a new contract and could end up paying nearly 40 million for him, Leo Carlson, and Pavel Mintyukov.

By comparison, the Canadiens are paying just over 41 million for Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Lane Hutson, and Demidov.

This effective management also means that Montreal will start the upcoming season with plenty of cap space ($13.4 million according to PuckPedia), which should give Hughes more flexibility to make a trade—and to get a good deal without overpaying.

With salary cap space, promising prospects, and draft picks, the Habs' GM has everything he needs to pull a rabbit out of his hat before the season starts or even during the season.

In a Nutshell

– What will the Jays do?

– Any trades on the horizon?

– Vancouver is reportedly interested.

– What a story…