Montreal Canadiens wage ceiling status after Shia Weber trade

Now that the season is over for the Montreal Canadiens, Kent Hughes can get down to the business of reshaping a roster with Mark Bergevin doing something to keep the competition in another, in line with his current plan to build the emerging Tried patching the holes. , and soon to be groomed young talent.

Hughes was just working to sign some bodies for the NHL team, adding Chris Weidmann in an extension and bringing Otto Leskinen back into the fold when he was on the reserve list for the entirety of 2021–22. as an unsigned restricted free agent. ,

On Thursday, GM made a more substantial move, sending the contract of an unofficially retired Shia Webber to a Vegas Golden Knights team desperate for nearly $8 million of long-term injured reserve funds, in return for the NHL. Further Evgeny Dadonov was gaining. The player signed on for another season that could be a 2023 trade deadline asset for Montreal.

Various reports state that the general manager is still hard at work trying to take other steps. It’s the salary-cap situation he’s dealing with in those negotiations.

An important factor to keep in mind is a bonus overage penalty The Canadiens move into the 2022–23 season. This has resulted in performance bonuses being hit on many players’ entry-level contracts. Having some talent in your early 20s trying to make you hit milestones is far from a bad thing, especially given the reality of the team’s competitive position. But the space Hughes has to work shaves off a little over $1 million, and next year is sure to be such a performance bonus hit.

As it stands, the graphic includes two goaltenders, seven defensemen and 13 forwards, a player short of the maximum 23-man roster with not enough room to add a league-minimum contract. There are other players in the system in some places, but in dollar terms, this hub is the best of its current options.

If he’s not ready to go, he might get some relief by putting Carey Price on the LTIR to start the season, but like last year, if there’s a chance, he’ll put that money elsewhere (besides a temporary replacement goaltender). ) cannot commit to spend. Price will be able to play out at some point.

One thing that differs from the charts of the previous years of Bergevin’s tenure is how much cap is currently assigned to the forward; The previous GM usually only had 50% allocated to those positions, although he was about to sign Nick Suzuki on an eight-year extension that starts in a few weeks. Whether the ratio remains the same depends on how Hughes moves in the summer.

Some of the 13 forwards featured have been frequently mentioned in trade rumours, since they did well at the recent IIHF World Hockey Championship. Joel Armia didn’t have much of an NHL campaign, but his international performances helped restore his reputation as a big-game artist who would draw interest from teams hoping to contest the next year. Hughes’ comment on Josh Anderson, a player he says is in high esteem and doesn’t want to be traded, sounds like his praise of Arturi Lehkonen before the final trade deadline as GM dug in his heels when Till he got the desired package.

Then there’s the matter of Jeff Petrie – another player Hughes doesn’t want to trade, but is listening to offers – that could be settled before the deadline for a significant return. This would be the two biggest contracts between defense personnel in a matter of weeks, leaving Joel Edmondson and David Savard as the highest earners with their deals worth $3.5 million, excluding another acquisition.

It’s likely this will be an off-season of subtraction more than addition, finding out what the team has provided some young players at the top level over the years. The goal will be to build a roster that is at least strong enough to keep the team in games next season to ensure that it is the future core of the team that receives the top assignment, and the three transactions Hughes has fitted. That vision. We should expect similar strategies that he sets out to do in the next month.