Mike Matheson’s next contract: '$6.5M is the base'

In a year’s time, next July, three Canadiens defensemen will need new contracts: Mike Matheson, Lane Hutson and Arber Xhekaj. Xhekaj, who will be a restricted free agent, shouldn’t be too hard to deal with in terms of salary. Hutson, of course, is getting a lot more attention. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent and won’t be eligible for hostile offers, but he’ll still be able to ask for the moon. And finally, there’s the case of Matheson. The Québécois will be an unrestricted free agent in a year’s time (if nothing changes between now and then)… but given his importance to the club and the youngsters on the rise, we wonder what’s in store for the veteran. We know that Matheson loves playing in his hometown. But what we don’t know is whether Matheson and his former agent (Kent Hughes) are able to find the right contract (at the right price and for the right number of years) to keep the Québécois in town. And on this subject, Renaud Lavoie, in his column of the day on BPM Sports with Anthony Desaulniers, Anthony Marcotte and Gilbert Delorme, gave some clues. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMvFLvoECUc [content-ads]What Renaud mentions is that in real dollars (i.e. not the impact on the mass, which is 4.875M), Mike Matheson will earn $6.5M in 2025-2026. We’re talking $2M in signing bonuses and $4.5M in base salary over the course of the year.