Noah Dobson will be highest-paid Canadiens player on ice next season
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Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes wouldn't have acquired Noah Dobson from the New York Islanders if the 25-year-old defenceman wouldn't agree to a long-term contract.
That's why Hughes asked Islanders GM Mathieu Darche for permission to speak with Dobson's agent before finalizing the trade on Friday that brought the defenceman to the Canadiens in exchange for the 16th and 17th overall picks at the NHL Draft, along with 23-year-old forward Emil Heineman.
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The Islanders were the only team that could offer Dobson a maximum-length contract, so it was technically Darche who signed the Summerside, P.E.I., native to the eight-year, US$76-million contract with an annual salary-cap hit of US$9.5 million in the sign-and-trade deal. But it was Hughes who negotiated it.
The contract makes Dobson the highest-paid player on the Canadiens — not counting the US$10.5 million for Carey Price in the final year of his contract while the goalie remains on long-term injured reserve before officially retiring. Patrik Laine now ranks second with a salary-cap hit of US$8.7 million, followed by captain Nick Suzuki at US$7.875 million, Cole Caufield at US$7.85 million and Juraj Slafkovsky at US$7.6 million.
When Jeff Gorton, the executive vice-president of hockey operations, and Hughes started rebuilding the Canadiens three years ago, Suzuki's contract — signed with former GM Marc Bergevin — was considered the ceiling, which is why Caufield earns US$25,000 less than the captain. But times have changed as the Canadiens' rebuilding plan moves forward and the NHL salary cap jumps from US$88 million last season to US$95.5 million next season, US$104 million for 2026-27 and US$113.5 million for 2027-28.
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Hughes noted the contracts he negotiated for Caufield and Slafkovsky were for players coming off three-year, NHL entry-level deals and the parameters were completely different for a player like Dobson, with six years of NHL experience. It will be interesting to see what the parameters will be for Lane Hutson's next contract after he won the Calder Trophy this season as the NHL's top rookie. Hutson entry-level deal that has a US$950,000 salary-cap hit has one season left and the 21-year-old can become a restricted free agent next summer.
It wouldn't be a surprise if Hutson becomes the Canadiens' highest-paid player with the new salary-cap structure. Then, Hughes will have to think about a new contract for Ivan Demidov, who can become a restricted free agent in two years. What will help Hughes two years from now is the contracts for veterans Brendan Gallagher (US$6.5 million cap hit) and Josh Anderson (US$5.5 million) will come to an end.
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Dobson's agent, Olivier Fortier, told Kevin Dubé of the Journal de Montréal the defenceman was offered more money by other teams before joining the Canadiens.
'As a general manager, I think that's very important,' Hughes, a former player agent, said with a chuckle. 'Some people may call me a hypocrite. I think it's very important.
'Listen, I represented hockey players,' Hughes added. 'A lot of them who made that decision. I always felt as an agent — and, obviously, Noah's agent feels the same way — that players drive decisions and they own their careers and we're here to kind of help guide them through.
'In my experience representing hockey players, once they get a taste of winning they chase it,' Hughes continued. 'They chase it and some of them look back and say: 'I wish I had figured it out sooner and chased it sooner.' I don't think there's a lot of players in Florida that are regretting that they took less money to stay in Florida (with the Panthers winning back-to-back Stanley Cups). That's a credit to the Florida Panthers organization for creating an environment where they can win and where they enjoy being there and working together, and that's what we're trying to do here.'
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