Habs didn’t think they could sign Juraj Slafkovský for eight years

The Canadiens were fairly quiet on the free-agent market on July 1. In fact, the club’s only signing was Alex Barré-Boulet, even though Jonathan Marchessault was on the club’s radar.

That said, signing a 33-year-old for five years (which is what the Predators did) didn’t make sense given the state of things in Montreal.

What did make sense, however, was to reach a long-term agreement with Juraj Slafkovský… and that’s exactly what the Habs did. Slaf signed an eight-year, $60.8 million pact to stay in town until 2033.

Signing a promising 20-year-old for eight years makes sense.

However, for much of the process, the Habs didn’t think they’d be able to reach an eight-year deal with the Slovak. In fact, as Kenzie Lalonde (TSN) recently reported, the club was convinced they could sign him for six or seven years, at most.

And when the possibility of an eight-year pact was brought to the table, it made the GM very happy.

Obviously, we can understand why the club had doubts. Slaf had just taken off in the NHL, and he might well have wanted to wait for another big season to increase his value and avoid signing at a discount.

Or, in other words, avoid doing what Jack Hughes did when he signed his eight-year pact for $8 million a year.

One wonders whether the fact that he loves playing in Montreal (and has a Quebec girlfriend) might have prompted the Slovak to commit to the maximum term now. If he feels comfortable in the city and likes the team’s management, signing at a discount may be the lesser evil to ensure he stays in the city as long as possible (and to ensure a large sum of money for several years).

Because there’s a reason Kent Hughes was happy to see him sign for eight years: in Montreal, we think big for the kid, and we feel this pact will age well over time.

Instead of signing a pact that will expire at the same time as Nick Suzuki’s (2030) or Cole Caufield’s (2031), Slaf chose to commit to the city until 2033. And that’s a big chunk of the team’s top-6 settled for the next nine years.