Optimism reigns in Montreal Canadiens land. One of the team’s strongest narratives is just how well the club has managed its cap situation. All of the organization’s core pieces are locked up to team-friendly deals.
Sounds like a great future is in store.
But that’s not precisely what Sean McIndoe thinks. In a recent mailbag in The Athletic, McIndoe took a contrarian view of the Canadiens’ cap situation. In particular, he highlighted just how much the rising salaries across the NHL could affect the Habs’ outlook moving forward.
He actually does have a point. The main reason here is that outrageous increases like what Leo Carlsson got, or Macklin Celebrini’s monster extension, could create a feeling of missing out among Montreal’s top stars.
“As we’re often scolded to remember these days, players are people, not simply assets or cells in a spreadsheet. They have feelings, and egos, not to mention friends and family in their ears. And in this case, these real people are going to spend the next several years constantly hearing about how they left tens of millions of dollars on the table by signing comically below-market deals.”
It seems that giving the Canadiens hometown discounts could actually backfire on the organization. Just think of Cole Caufield. He’s 25, just scored 50 goals, and is locked up until 2031 for $7.85 million. That’s something that could end up blowing up in the Canadiens’ faces.
Canadiens Face Massive Exit
The thing here isn’t that Caufield, or 100-point Selke winner Nick Suzuki, might request a trade. Doing so wouldn’t help them earn more money.
The issue here is that the Canadiens stand to see a massive exit. If any feelings about a missed opportunity brew, especially as other stars get paid handsomely, Suzuki, Caufield, Lane Hutson, Jakub Dobes, and so on, might bolt the first chance they get.
In fact, there’s no reason to believe that any of the Canadiens’ core players will give the organization a second hometown discount. The Habs will need to pay retroactively, or see core players leave.
That could happen sooner than expected. Suzuki has four years left on his deal. It’s five for Caufield. Those are two pieces the Canadiens might have to replace sooner than expected. And while Hutson is on the books until 2034, Noah Dobson till 2033, and Ivan Demidov until 2035, who knows if any feelings of a missed opportunity may cause these players to reconsider their desire to remain in Montreal.
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Pressure Is on to Win Now
It might not look like it, but the Canadiens are in win-now mode. They have a five-year window at best to win multiple Stanley Cups. The team has to do it while everyone is locked up. If they fail to win at least once in the next five seasons, the Habs may not get another chance like this for a long while.
If the Habs don’t win now, they could be staring at the “mushy middle” by decade’s end. That may even translate into another full rebuild by the mid-2030s.
The clock is ticking on the Canadiens now, even if it doesn’t seem like it.
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