Juraj Slafkovsky, the best signing the Canadiens could afford

He committed $1.14 billion in total salaries to 146 players Monday, in the first six hours after the free-agent market opened. Some bargains, several puzzling signings, but mostly a lot, a lot of money going to players who, in many cases, have already had their best seasons.

The Canadiens, for their part, have refrained from making extravagant purchases and have instead decided to spend $7.6 million per season for the next eight years on their young star Juraj Slafkovsky.

It’s worth noting right away that this contract represents a lower annual average than the pacts of Nick Suzuki ($7.875 million) and Cole Caufield ($7.85 million). But that’s only part of the story.

In the National Hockey League (NHL), even more than the player’s salary, it is the percentage of the payroll occupied by the contract at the time of its signing that is used as a comparison tool during negotiations.

There is inflation, and the best players will always earn more, especially in a context where the salary cap has started to rise again. The percentage of the payroll, however, is an index that remains constant from one year to the next.

When he signed his eight-year contract in 2022-23, Suzuki was asking for 9.5% of the Canadiens’ salary cap. The following year, after the salary cap increased by $1 million, Caufield went for a contract that took up 9.4% of the salary cap.

Now, Slafkovsky’s next deal will kick in at the start of the 2025-26 season, with early rumors suggesting a salary cap hit of $92 million. If confirmed, this new contract would represent only 8.3% of next year’s cap. That’s a good deal for the team.

Obviously, there is always an element of risk, both on the team’s side and on the player’s side.

From the Canadiens’ perspective, we’re banking on the dizzying progression that the first overall pick in the 2022 draft has experienced in the last four months of the season. Starting on December 16, Slafkovsky took off by collecting 18 points and 43 points in 53 games, in addition to offering increasingly assured play. However, this is a relatively short sample size.

The risk in the Slovak winger’s camp is to give up one more season in which he could have increased his value thanks to good performances.

In the end, the interest in signing now may have been more in the Canadiens’ favor, especially since this contract allows the team to maintain an internal salary structure that is based around Suzuki. Waiting another year could have proven more difficult.

It is certainly a less risky signing than some of the contracts that were agreed at the start of the autonomy market.

All three members of what was the Canadiens’ top line last year are now signed long-term and all earn less than $8 million per season, which suggests plenty of financial room to maneuver for the future.

Of course, the Canadiens want to remain prudent in their spending in order to be able to sign their other top young players long-term in the years to come. But with a salary cap that should increase significantly from one year to the next, the organization will be able to strike a big blow whenever it wants.

In her current situation, however, she felt that the time was not yet right.

Marchessault was looking for the long term

Kent Hughes has been scouring the free agent market for a forward who could help the top six in the short term, but he didn’t have much hope of landing any of his targets.

A player like David Perron could have fit that profile given that he wasn’t in a position to demand a long-term contract, but there didn’t seem to be any real appetite on the Canadiens’ side.

It seems Hughes was targeting bigger fish. One such player is Jonathan Marchessault, who reluctantly left Vegas and signed a five-year contract worth an average annual value of $5.5 million with the Nashville Predators.

In Marchessault’s case, we were not ready to go to four or five yearsHughes said at a press conference.

The GM said he was comfortable commenting publicly on this matter given that the Quebec winger himself had publicly alluded to the CH’s interest.

Agent Pat Brisson confirmed to Radio-Canada Sports that a long-term contract was Marchessault’s top priority.

I understand the Canadian, it’s a young team and in its situation, it’s less interested in giving long termBrisson agreed.

Compensating by offering Marchessault a higher salary was therefore not going to prove sufficient.

Another Quebec free agent, Anthony Duclair, also indicated that he had chosen something other than what the Canadiens were offering him. The New York Islanders gave him a four-year contract, something he has never had in his career. It’s clear that the Canadiens weren’t going to venture into those waters.

At the risk of not participating in the Canada Day fireworks, Hughes would rather do nothing than make a mistake.

What happens in the free agent market, and this is natural, is that if you go all in and think you’re going to come out with something, sometimes you end up getting something that you regret later.Hughes noted.

We approached this day with a disciplined mindset that if we could accomplish something within our parameters, we would do it. Otherwise, we’re comfortable continuing to wait and see if something materializes, whether it’s through free agency or through a trade.

The Canadiens have been trying to make a trade since the end of the season, but have not found common ground. Even after Johnathan Kovacevic’s departure, the Canadiens’ GM half-heartedly acknowledges that there are still plenty of defensemen on the team and that one or more of them could serve as bait.

We don’t want to take a step back, that is to say, trade a good young player to get a good young player. We want to move forward, insisted Hughes. If we can use our surplus in something to improve, we will do it, but taking a step back does not interest us.