The Montreal Canadiens and defenseman Lane Hutson have agreed to an eight-year contract extension price $70.8 million, carrying an AAV of $8.85 million. $55 million of the deal is to be paid in signing bonuses.
Lane Hutson #GoHabsGO 8 yr $8.85M Cap Hit ext:
Yr 1 1M Base & 11M SB
Yr 2 1M & 11M SB
Yr 3 1M & 9.5M SB
Yr 4 1M & 6.5M SB
Yr 5 1.2M & 6M SB
Yr 6 1.2M & 6M SB
Yr 7 2.2M & 5M SB
Yr 8 7.2MYr 6-8: 10 team No Trade Clause
Rep’d by Coffey @QuartexxHockey https://t.co/3TWiLCMrzj
— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) October 13, 2025
Many were wondering when the Montreal Canadiens would sign Hutson to an extension. While there was no pressure to finish it, the extensions by Recent Jersey Devils defenseman Luke Hughes and Anaheim Geese defenseman Jackson LaCombe, each carrying AAVs of $9 million per season, ramped up the timeline for the Canadiens.
With Hutson being a ten.2(c) restricted free agent like Luke Hughes next offseason, the one leverage the player had was to carry out. As mentioned over the summer on NHLRumors.com, if it were summertime next 12 months and the Canadiens didn’t have a deal in place with Hutson, then panic would set in. Nonetheless, because it is now and he’s just eligible to sign an extension, there was a way of urgency to get it done.
Lane Hutson signs an outrageously team-friendly deal considering his skill-set, age, comps, and a rapidly exploding salary cap. pic.twitter.com/GDsNirWfEb
— dom (@domluszczyszyn) October 13, 2025
Montreal had been attempting to sign the reigning Calder Trophy winner before the season began. Montreal and Hutson’s camp had been making progress, based on Marco D’Amico of RG Media, on a brand new extension despite what they’d been saying to the media. As Jonathan Bernier of TVA Sports reported on Friday, Hutson’s agent and GM Kent Hughes were spotted together ahead of the sport against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday. As Bernier stated, the 2 sides were on the verge of a deal.
And here we’re, the Canadiens’ defenseman is signed long-term, like the remainder of the core, including Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Dobson, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Kaiden Guhle. Except those guys signed on the primary day of free agency. This took a bit of longer as Hughes told Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports.
Lane Hutson is a special player. Last season, he recorded 66 points (six goals and 60 assists), setting not only Canadiens records as a defenseman, but additionally tying NHL records as a rookie defenseman. That’s how much he can change the sport from the back end. As some have said, he’s already in that Quinn Hughes category, where teams fear what he can do along with his skating ability and skill with the puck coming out of the defensive zone.
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