On Saturday, the Chicago Blackhawks announced they had signed their best player, Connor Bedard, to a new five-year contract with a $15 million cap hit. This is the Hawks’ second big signing this offseason, since they acquired Bowen Byram from the Buffalo Sabres before signing him to a six-year contract extension with a $12.5 million cap hit. Essentially, it means they have signed their top forward and projected number one defenseman for a combined $27.5 million.
Meanwhile, the Montreal Canadiens have signed Ivan Demidov to an eight-year deal with a $9.15 million cap hit on July 1st, and their own projected number one blueliner, Lane Hutson, to another eight-year deal with an $8.85 million cap hit at the start of last season. In other words, the Canadiens’ duo account for a combined $18 million cap hit. That’s impressive work from Kent Hughes, especially since the cap hit is much lower and the contracts are longer.
Byram will be a UFA at age 32 in 2033, while Bedard will be a UFA in 2031 at just 25 years old. In other words, it’s a possibility that the Hawks will only have enjoyed eight years of their first overall pick before letting him hit unrestricted free agency. Meanwhile, the Canadiens will have gotten 11 years of both Hutson and Demidov (although since they both burned the first year of their ELC by joining the Canadiens at the tail end of the season, it really works out to 10 years). That statement is also true for Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky. Hughes has found a way to sign his core players to team-friendly contracts while also getting maximum term out of them, which is impressive.
If you take the comparison even further, Frank Nazar, who’s another core piece for Chicago, carries a $6.599 cap hit and is under contract for seven years; that’s a much better signing for Kyle Davidson, who at least managed to surrender only one year of team control. It means that the Bedar, Byram and Nazar trio will have a combined $34.1 M cap hit. If you add the Canadiens’ top line center to the Demidov/Hutson duo, it works out to a $25.8 M cap hit. Although the comparison isn’t as good since Suzuki’s contract was signed all the way back in October 2021, before the salary cap started increasing exponentially.
Still, the fact that Hughes is managing to talk his players into team-friendly and very long-term contracts is admirable. However, while it does give the Canadiens an advantage on paper, they will only “cash in,” so to speak, if the GM can use that salary cap flexibility to bring in more impactful players and pay them, be it via trade or free agency. Of course, it could also be via the draft if the Canadiens have prospects that pan out, but in an ideal world, Hughes would be able to use the cap space to bring in impactful players that act as placeholders while the prospects mature.
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