General manager Kent Hughes of the Montreal Canadiens, a former rookie, has another season of experience under his belt after locking up 2023–24.
Furthermore, as he continues to mold his Habs team, he has signed contracts for an additional season. Given Hughes’ continued success at the leadership of the most illustrious organization in NHL history, it is almost certain that this annual list of the finest Canadiens transactions will include a few new entrants. Indeed, four of the team’s probably top five non-entry-level contracts are directly related to Hughes. Now, as they approach 2024–2025:
 Samuel Montembeault;
A cap hit of $3.15 million Although he was on last year’s list, Canadiens goalie Samuel Montembeault is technically a new entry.
The explanation is straightforward: he signed an extension in December 2023. Clearly, Montembeault got a lot of value out of his last contract, which was for two years with a $1 million cap charge. With a $3.15 million cap impact through 2027, the deal might theoretically accomplish the same, albeit to a lesser extent. But now that Jake Allen has been sold, Montembeault has an opportunity to become the Canadiens’ unchallenged top goalie.
Despite having an unimpressive 16-15-9 record with a 3.14 goals-against average and.903 save percentage, Montembeault puts in a consistently high level of effort. With a younger defense that has more experience up front, his current deal may become a steal. Ultimately, how many reliable starts with a hit this low can you name?
Nick Suzuki is worth $7.875 million.
Nick Suzuki, who has the lone deal signed by former general manager Marc Bergevin on this list, remains at No. 4 year over year. Despite the $7.875 million cap hit, Suzuki, a regular all-star who just scored at almost a point-per-game rate (33 goals, 77 points), may be able to move up a spot or two given that he elevated his game in 2023–2024. To be fair, Suzuki’s inclusion on this list despite his hefty cap price is more indicative of the Canadiens’ value as a player than of the team’s abundance of terrible contracts.
