The Montreal Canadiens will make Lane Hutson the highest-paid defenseman on the team
Jim Biringer of NHLRumors.com joined TSN Radio in Montreal and was asked about Lane Hutson and if he could get something similar to what Cale Makar will make with the Colorado Avalanche, on his next contract
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Host: “You know what, Jim, I don’t know what happens, but if I’m Lane Hutson, or if I’m Lane Hudson’s agent, and I have true belief in myself, I’m signing short-term deals until that Cale Makar contract comes in, and then after that, maybe I’m willing to sign long-term but I’m going to have that bar set with the best defenseman in the league making, what, $14-15, $15.5 million and have a new barometer that I can that I can try to match.”
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Jim Biringer: “No, that’s a great point. I think that’s something Hutson is going to look at as well, right? You say to yourself, Okay, what’s Makar going to come in at? We know he’s going to go double-digit. Could it be 12, 13, 14, most likely. That’s where the number is going to be with him in Colorado. But again, I go back to the salary structure that Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes had put into place in Montreal.
And I say to myself, Okay, you see how good teams are building their rosters out. They don’t want to overspend in certain areas. And I think, they’re going to put Dobson, and Dobson’s already the mark at 9.5 and I think Huson goes over that, and then everybody kind of follows suit.
And I think, but I agree with you in the point that, okay, if Makar’s getting 13, well, why can’t I get 12? Why can’t I get the same as Makar is going to get. And the one point I will say, Mitch, that you mentioned these short-term deals. We saw this years ago. Marian Hossa, one-year deal, one-year deal. I was very surprised guys didn’t bet on themselves this past offseason, especially right now that we’re in there taking these one-year deals before maxing out.
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Because, yeah, it’s a risk because of injury, but to bet on yourself and get that every year get to make more and more money in the offseason. Very little surprised by that, but I think that might be a trend going forward.”
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