Cole Sillinger’s new deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets is the kind of contract that gets noticed in Montreal.
The forward agreed to a three-year contract worth $4.625 million per season, according to Elliotte Friedman, with the Blue Jackets and Sillinger avoiding arbitration just before the deadline. In total, the deal comes in at nearly $14 million, and for the Canadiens, it offers a fresh reference point as they work through Zachary Bolduc’s next contract.
That matters because Bolduc is still a restricted free agent, and his value is being measured against players with a similar profile. Sillinger and Bolduc sit in the same general lane: young forwards trying to land their first major contract after the entry-level stage.
In Montreal, those comparables are everything. Each new signing by a player in that range nudges the market a little further, and both sides are paying attention. Bolduc’s camp is watching closely, and so is Kent Hughes’ group.
The structure of Sillinger’s deal is useful too. Three years is a middle-ground commitment, not a short bridge and not a long-term lock. It gives both sides room to maneuver, which is exactly the kind of template teams and players study when they’re trying to land on the right number.
For the Canadiens, that kind of benchmark can help shape an offer that feels fair. Go too low, and you risk creating friction with the player. Go too high, and you eat into the salary-cap flexibility that matters so much during a rebuild.
Bolduc’s contract situation is also part of a crowded summer for Hughes, who has several negotiations to manage at once. Each one can influence the next, which makes every comparable around the league more important.
And the market is tilting toward players. With the salary cap rising, paydays are climbing with it, and every new contract seems to reset expectations a little higher.
So Sillinger’s deal gives Montreal a clearer starting point. The next question is whether Hughes can get Bolduc signed before training camp opens.
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The money angle, meanwhile, appears to have been a red herring. DAmico noted that Hage is not staying in school to chase a bigger payday, even though his eventual entry-level deal is expected to carry a $1.075 million cap hit and his AHL alternative in Laval would have come with a meaningful salary of its own. For Canadiens fans, the important part is less about the dollars and more about the timeline, because Hages next step still points toward Montreal when the time is right. [Read more 🡒]
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Carey Price Just Reopened Canadiens Fans Biggest Chris Kreider Scar
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Kreider has moved on to the Anaheim Ducks, but the reaction in Montreal has never really softened, and his next visit to the city is already circled on the calendar for December. Price may be ready to leave the old grievance behind, yet Canadiens fans are likely to treat that matchup as one of those dates that brings the whole scar back into focus. [Read more 🡒]