As players keep signing huge contracts left, right, and center in the NHL, Noah Dobson remains the Montreal Canadiens’ highest-paid player with a $9.5 million cap hit, and some are starting to wonder if the Habs players won’t eventually regret signing those deals. However, when Juraj Slafkovsky was asked about that at the Hockey Player of the Year gala in Slovakia, his answer was pretty clear:
It’s not really about the money for anyone there (in Montreal). We all have the same goal on that team. Nobody really cares about the money at this point. I mean, all those contracts that the guys have, or even I personally have, it’s already made our lives easier enough. Nobody really needs more than that. We’d rather focus on collecting those (Stanley Cup) rings, because that’s a much bigger number, and I don’t think any amount of money can top that.
– Slafkovsky at the Hockey Player of the Year gala
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That’s the party line that has been established in Montreal, and there’s no denying that everyone seems to have bought in right now. For now, the Canadiens are in an excellent salary-cap position; we’ll see if they can stay there when their top players start needing new contracts. At the end of the 2029-30 season, in four years, captain Nick Suzuki will be up for a new contract; in five years, it will be Cole Caufield and Kaiden Guhle’s turn; then, in 2033, Slafkovsky and Dobson will be needing new contracts.
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That’s the reality of a salary cap league: no matter how well you build a franchise, nothing is eternal, and a GM’s job is never done. As of now, Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton have assembled a formidable group, but they have yet to make use of the money the players have left on the table to bring in extra reinforcements. If they can’t manage to do that, it may be harder to sell the players on the idea that they are increasing their odds of winning the Stanley Cup by accepting less money.
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.
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