Not everyone was happy in Habsland when the Montreal Canadiens signed Mike Matheson to a 5-year contract extension, but there are a couple of reasons it was important for GM Kent Hughes to do so.
Not everyone was pleased when Kent Hughes announced a 5-year contract extension for 32-year-old blueliner Mike Matheson last November, but that was a key signing for the Montreal Canadiens. Whichever way you look at it, a young team always needs some leadership, and the veteran provides plenty of that, but he also has something just as important: he accepts being cast in whichever role the coaching staff believes would be best for the team.
When he first joined the Habs, Matheson was soon cast as the number one power-play quarterback, and he did incredibly well in that role. However, when rookie defenseman Lane Hutson showed he was ready to play that role, the veteran was moved down to the second power-play unit.
Then, not even a year later, the Canadiens acquired Noah Dobson, a right-shot defenseman who was also a former 12th overall pick and had put up 70 points in a season in the past. Dobson was given the reins of the second power-play unit, which meant that Matheson effectively lost what little power-play time he had left. The veteran didn’t complain, far from it. He embraced the fact that the coaching staff decided to make him a penalty kill specialist and gave his all to morph into that role, which he did successfully.
Recently, he was asked on the Spitting Chicklets podcast if it was hard for him to lose his role on the first power play to Hutson after putting up over 60 points the season before, and his answer was the very definition of what being a team player is:
That kind of boils down to ego, right? Would that bother you because you’re not getting as many points? And if that’s the case, like why does that actually matter? Is there a way that you can find value elsewhere in your game where you’re kind of being an important part of the team, but maybe it’s not scoring goals? And so that’s what I tried to do: he’s so special at what he does, and he’s way better than me at it. So like, who am I to kind of fight that, right? He’s obviously bringing a lot to the table on that side of the puck to drive success for our team, and so my job is to find a different way to drive success for the team and be an important part of the team.
For many players, losing prime offensive opportunities equates to losing earning opportunities. The NHL being what it is, the highest-paid defensemen are the ones who can put up top offensive numbers. Matheson knew that, but he didn’t care. Why? Because he’s the kind of player Hughes has in mind when he speaks of players who want to be part of something rather than being the thing. If the veteran had been all about maximizing his earning capacity, he wouldn’t have been fine with losing those high-profile roles, but that’s not what he was after; he was after winning, and he believed in what the Canadiens are building, which is why he felt like he just needed another way to play an important role.
What’s great about having someone like Matheson be ready to play that undervalued role is that if an injury strikes either Hutson or Dobson, the Canadiens know that they have a suitable replacement in Matheson; he can slide right back into a more offensive role as a backup plan, and he has proven that he can do it.
That’s why it was important to ink him to a new deal; he’s proven he can do whatever the team needs him to do, and that he’s not all about himself; he puts the team first. He not only plays an important role on the ice, but he can also be the poster boy of the team culture the Canadiens have put in place. When he signed his 5-year contract extension with a $6 million cap hit, he took less than he could have had if he hit the market as a UFA this summer; there’s no doubt about that.
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