The NHL’s salary cap is climbing, and around the league that usually means one thing: bigger checks, bigger swings and bigger mistakes. Anaheim handed Leo Carlsson a record-setting five-year, $18 million extension after the Flyers’ offer sheet, and Bowen Byram’s $12.5 million AAV made him the highest-paid defenseman in league history by that measure.
Montreal, though, keeps operating like the market never got the memo.
The Canadiens have spent the last stretch squeezing real value out of long-term deals, and that matters now more than ever. As other clubs start feeling the squeeze that comes with a rising cap, Kent Hughes has built a roster with room to breathe.
That kind of flexibility doesn’t just help in the moment. It gives Montreal a cleaner path toward staying in the Stanley Cup mix year after year.
Hughes’ work has been easy to miss because it doesn’t always come with the splash of a headline trade. The Jim Gregory Award for the NHL’s top general manager often goes to the person tied to the biggest recent success or the loudest acquisition, and this year that honor went to Wild GM Bill Guerin after he traded for former Norris-winning defenseman Quinn Hughes in December. But Montreal’s general manager has been making his own kind of impact through the numbers on the books.
A good example came on July 1, when the Canadiens signed Ivan Demidov to an eight-year, $9.1 million extension. That’s half of what Carlsson will make on his new deal, even though Demidov put up 62 points in his age-19 season, compared with Carlsson’s 45 at the same age.
Demidov also made his thinking clear when he spoke to Montreal media after the deal.
“I think everyone thinks about money,” Demidov said. “Money [is] never going to be over hockey in my life.”
That fits the pattern Montreal has established. Lane Hutson, Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovský are all locked in for under $10 million each, and that has set the tone for the rest of the roster-building exercise.
The Canadiens’ cap situation looks even stronger when you zoom out. They reached the Eastern Conference finals as the youngest playoff team in NHL history, and they already have four of their top-six forwards signed through at least 2030. Alexander Zharovsky and Michael Hage are in the pipeline as possible top-six options as well.
On defense, Hutson, Noah Dobson and Kaiden Guhle are all under contract through 2031.
At the moment, Montreal has the ninth-most cap space in the league, even while carrying more than five million in dead cap. That gives the Canadiens a cushion other teams simply don’t have, especially clubs like the Ducks and Wild, who are already losing depth because of cap pressure.
The one major piece still unresolved is in goal. Montreal has not yet locked up Jakub Dobeš or Jacob Fowler as the goalie of the future, but if the Canadiens keep following the same contract model, neither should require a premium.
For now, the message from Montreal is pretty clear: the winning foundation isn’t just being built on the ice. It’s being built in the front office, too.
In Other News...
Former Flyers Depth Center Just Made A Telling Career Move
Rodrigo Abols is moving on after a brief run through Philadelphia, and the next stop for the 30-year-old Latvian center is a familiar European stage. After spending the 2025-26 season with the Flyers, where he appeared in 42 games, Abols has signed a three-year deal with SC Bern in Switzerland, a move that fits a player who has bounced between North American hockey and the SHL while carving out a reputation as a reliable depth option.
For Bern, the appeal is obvious. Sporting director Martin Plss pointed to Abols two-way game and leadership qualities, traits that matter for a club looking for more than just offense down the middle. There was also another path on the table, with Orebro HK reportedly interested in bringing him back to his former SHL team, but Abols has chosen a different landing spot and a longer commitment, leaving the Flyers to watch one of their recent depth centers settle into a new chapter abroad. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Linked To Another Young Center Fans Have Been Waiting For
The Flyers are still sorting through their center options after Anaheim matched the offer sheet for Leo Carlsson, closing off one of the cleaner paths to a long-term answer down the middle. With that door shut, the search has shifted toward younger, controllable forwards who could fit into the top six and give Philadelphia some upside beyond a short-term patch.
One name now in the conversation has shown enough offensive promise to keep the idea alive, even if he has not fully turned that potential into a true breakout yet. For a Flyers team trying to balance immediate need with the chance to grow into something bigger, the appeal is obvious, but the real question is whether Seattle would ever be willing to move him. [Read more 🡒]
Jason Robertson Just Reached A Crucial Stars Contract Checkpoint
The NHL arbitration calendar is now set, and it gives the Flyers an early place in the summers next round of roster business. Fifteen players have filed for hearings scheduled from July 20 through Aug. 1, with Ottawas Xavier Bourgault already taken care of by a new contract, while the process itself leaves plenty of room for a deal to get done before anyone actually steps to the podium.
For Philadelphia, the dates matter because Jamie Drysdale is first up on July 20, followed by Trevor Zegras on July 22, putting two key cases near the front of the line. Teams can still settle before a hearing, and once an award is issued they have 48 hours to accept it or walk away, so the Flyers may not have to wait long to learn how much of their summer flexibility is going to be tied up in the arbitration process. [Read more 🡒]