The Montreal Canadiens may not have gone big game hunting on Canada Day, but they still made a franchise-defining signing.
If Montreal Canadiens fans were wishing and hoping for big news on Canada Day, they got it. It might not have been the one they expected, but it was essential for the good of the team and for Kent Hughes to stick to his master plan.
The Canadiens architect managed to ink Ivan Demidov to an 8-year deal with an extremely team-friendly cap hit of $ 9.15 M, for a total of $73.2 million. While it doesn't include a blanket no-movement clause, he does have a modified no-trade clause in the last three seasons, when he'll be able to pick 10 teams he cannot be traded to.
While his cap hit is over Lane Hutson’s cap hit, which stands at $8.85 M, it’s still below Noah Dobson’s $9.5 M, and considering the contracts that are being signed these days, it’s a definitive win for the team. It also speaks to the type of person Ivan Demidov is. He didn’t want to wait to see what pending RFAs would get on the market; his priority was to sign a deal for as long as possible with the Habs as soon as possible:
“Ivan knows we’ve got a salary structure within our team, said Hughes, and, like our other players, he’s a team player. He wants to be part of something rather than just be the something”.
Hughes explained that the organization knew that about Hutson right away when they first interviewed him in Las Vegas before the draft. They felt he was a unique, confident kid, but a hockey player who wanted to be part of something, praising his character. A trait that is rather important to the Canadiens, whether they are drafting, trading, or signing a player.
Considering the current trend around the league that appears to be here to stay of throwing a lot of money at free agents, it begs the question of whether selling that concept of wanting to be part of something and being ready to leave money on the table to do it is harder for players who are not already part of the team and if the organization is just point blank not interested in players who aren’t willing to do that. Hughes had a really sensible answer to that:
“I have to say that normally, yes, said Hughes, but when players aren’t with us, it’s hard to get on the phone and make a sales pitch in the limited time you have to talk to them. But you can certainly hope that information is making the rounds in the league; that players in the NHL know players who play elsewhere. When they are in a bad situation, word gets around quickly, but we hope that the contrary is also true. It’s certainly something we have to take into account when we’re trading for a player. When all of our players are making sacrifices to benefit the team, we can’t just say, "Thanks, everyone," and sign someone for $20 million, get them in the room, and expect them to go around thanking Ivan, Nick, and Cole for his $20 million. We’re aware of that, and it’s part of building a culture, but at the same time, we signed Noah for more than the others because it allowed us to take a step forward, and I know that our players are happy that we did.”
While the Canadiens did give Dobson more money, it was still a reasonable number, not an outlandish one that would have made him one of the richest players in the league. From that answer, I believe that it’s clear Hughes won’t be going after the Jason Robertsons of this world. The Dallas Stars winger is an RFA, and the Texas outfit doesn’t have the means to sign him to the contract he’s after. They tried to trade him to the Seattle Kraken in a sign-and-trade deal, which would have given Robertson a $15 million cap hit, and he declined. While we don’t know the exact reason why he refused, it feels like that’s one offer the Canadiens’ GM wouldn’t have made.
Could Hughes go out and give someone a contract that is richer than Dobson’s? He’s not closing the door on it, but it would have to be for a player who really moves the needle for the Canadiens, not for a talented player who doesn’t really fill a particular Canadiens’ need.
While the Canadiens didn’t make a big splash in free agency on Wednesday, the fact that they announced Demidov's extension on the same day was more than likely no coincidence. It took the focus away from the lack of a new acquisition and gave the GM a great opportunity to speak to the press and reiterate the plan and how well what they’re building is working. Yes, part of the fanbase will still be disappointed, but the takeaway from this day should be that when rookies are brought in, they love what they see and they buy what Hughes and the Habs are selling.
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.
Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.
Join the discussion by signing up to the Canadiens' roundtable on The Hockey News.
