Canadiens’ Hughes Needs to Build a Salary Structure on His Blue Line

Who should Kent Hughes start is salary structure on defense with?

Even though it took about a month of negotiations between the Montreal Canadiens and Juraj Slafkovsky's agent to agree on his new eight-year deal, he still ended up signing it on the very first day he was eligible to sign an extension. The main reason why general manager Kent Hughes was able to do so is he's already got a salary structure as a guide for the forwards of his young core.

For the GM, right now, Nick Suzuki is not only his best player, but also his best leader and the Canadiens' captain. As Hughes said it himself during his media availability on the opening day of the free agency market, the players know this and they respect it. 

They respect it not because it's just a number he (or former GM Marc Bergevin) set out of nowhere, but because it's backed-up by the data, The points, the goals, the time on ice up front, you name it, he led it. Even the best agents cannot argue on facts evidenced by numbers, it's when it gets to intangibles that things get tricky. 

Thankfully, so far, with the data and a cap freeze for the past few years, it hasn't been very hard for Hughes to negotiate with his other forwards. It could have been with the Slovak winger given the salary cap raise, but the shrewd negotiator still managed to get him to respect the existing salary structure in the forward group.

Signing Slafkovsky wasn't the only contract on his to-do list however, he now has to handle the contracts of Arber Xhekaj and Justin Barron who are restricted free agents, but logic dictates they should not be at the top of his list. 

Why is that? The reasons are twofold; firstly, because statistics tell us he's better than Xhekaj and Barron. He's spent time on the team's first pairing, he hasn't even been to Laval, not even as a tourist and he can play on his off side. Secondly because even though Kaiden Guhle's contract has not entirely ran its course, he has been eligible to sign an extension since July 1 as it has entered its last year.

It makes sense to sign him first because it allows you to tell the other players' agents; Look, this is what I'm giving Guhle, I can't put your client above that mark. Should be rather simple for Barron, he has yet to establish himself as a regular with the Canadiens and has spent a lot of time in the AHL with the Laval Rocket. 

It might not be all that easy for Xhekaj who has been seen right from the start as a "unicorn". He's a gritty defenseman, not afraid of anyone and he's always willing to protect his teammates. Furthermore, he can actually play hockey as well. He's got a booming shot and a knack to put the puck on the net, even with a wrist shot from the blue line.

I'm not saying Guhle will be Hughes' standard of excellence for a long time, after all, people (the team included), have big expectations for Lane Hutson and David Reinbacher. That however is a conversation for another time...