Kent Hughes is determined to keep Nick Suzuki as the highest paid player on the Montreal Canadiens.
With an annual salary of $7.875 million, Suzuki ranks first among the Canadiens’ highest earners. Hughes doesn’t want to change this dynamic of having his captain as the highest paid in the locker room,
This policy has important implications for future contract negotiations with other key players. For example, if the Canadiens are looking to acquire Martin Necas or another top forward, they will need to structure the contract so that his salary remains lower than Suzuki’s.
This means that Necas could be offered a 7-year contract worth a total of $49 million, an average of $7 million per year, ensuring that Suzuki remains the highest paid player.
This strategy also impacts Juraj Slafkovsky, who is eligible for a contract extension this summer. Despite his potential and the fact that he will undoubtedly become the best player on this team, he will not receive $8 million per year, an amount that would exceed Suzuki’s current salary.
Kent Hughes is making sure Nick Suzuki maintains his status as the Montreal Canadiens’ highest-paid player. Not for nothing that Cole Caufield signed just below his captain, at $7.85 million per year.
$25,000 less per year…just saying…
The move directly influences players’ future contracts and ensures Suzuki remains at the top of the team’s salary hierarchy. Suzuki can therefore be calm: its status and portfolio position will remain intact.
However, the question arises whether this strategy is viable in the long term. With the NHL salary cap gradually increasing and general inflation, player salaries will inevitably continue to rise.
At some point, Nick Suzuki will have to accept the inevitable: other players on the team will end up earning more than him.
NHL player incomes tend to follow economic trends and especially inflation. As the salary cap increases, teams have more financial flexibility to offer more lucrative contracts.
Ignoring this reality could put the Montreal Canadiens at a disadvantage when it comes to signing or retaining high-level talent.
Additionally, artificially keeping Suzuki’s salary as the highest could cause internal tensions, especially if players who become more successful feel they deserve higher salaries based on their on-ice contributions. In the long term, this could affect good team relations and player satisfaction. Be careful of the tensions that could then arise.
It is also crucial to consider how the free agent market and contract extensions are evolving. Young talents like Juraj Slafkovsky will deserve salary increases if their performances justify such investments.
If the Canadians want to remain competitive, they will have to offer contracts in line with market standards, even if that means exceeding Suzuki’s current salary.
Although Kent Hughes’ desire to keep Nick Suzuki as the Canadiens’ highest-paid player is understandable in the short term, it is unlikely that this strategy will be realistic in the long term.
The economic realities of professional sport will ultimately destroy the model of the CEO of the CH. Suzuki, like his teammates, will have to accept that the natural evolution of salaries in the NHL will one day exceed his own contract, thus guaranteeing monetary justice within the room and above all harmony within the team.
With the ego that Slafkovsky possesses, it is clear that he would want to be paid more than Suzuki in the long run. And we understand it one hundred percent.
