Patrik Laine automatically becomes Montreal’s highest-paid forward

When you look at the Habs’ payroll, one thing is easy to recognize.

There’s no forward making more money than Nick Suzuki.

In fact… There’s no forward (or any other player) making more money than Nick Suzuki before Patrik Laine arrived in Montreal. There’s Carey Price, of course… But we know his career is over, even if it’s not yet official.

When he offered Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky new contracts, Kent Hughes had one thing in mind.

He didn’t want any player to earn more cash than his captain, which is why a certain “salary scale” was introduced at the time.

That said, the Blue Jackets didn’t withhold any salary in the deal that brought Laine to town, and that automatically makes Laine the highest-paid forward in Montreal.

His salary of $8.7 million per season puts him at the top of the list:

The difference, however, is that Laine didn’t sign his contract while playing for the Habs.

The same is true of Suzuki, Caufield and Slafkovsky.

Laine, on the other hand, signed his contract in 2022, two seasons after arriving in Columbus… And it’s not as if he had six – seven – eight years left on his contract either, compared to the three to the Habs’ young players.

Kent Hughes’ idea was logical in the first place, but on the other hand, he couldn’t tie his hands by wanting no player to earn more than his captain, because at some point, that would have limited his options.

And even if Laine’s value on the ice isn’t as great as Suzuki’s, Caufield’s or Slafkovksy’s, the Habs got hold of a player who can help right away, and that’s the important thing here.

Overtime

– Hehe.

Kent Hughes this summer:

– Drafted Ivan Demidov
– Drafted Michael Hage
– Signed Juraj Slafkovsky 8 yrs/$7.6M AAV
– Signed Arber Xhekaj 2 yrs/$1.3M AAV
– Signed Justin Barron 2 yrs/$1.15M AAV
– Signed Kaiden Guhle 6 yrs/$5.5M AAV
– Traded for Patrik Laine
– Made the hoes mad pic.twitter.com/N04mE60jys

– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) August 19, 2024

– Good luck with the rest!

Thank you, Jordan, for your work both on the ice and in the community. Bonne continuation à Columbus!

Thank you Jordan for your work both on the ice and in the community. Best of luck in Columbus! pic.twitter.com/9rYRZms3ct

– Montreal Canadiens (@CanadiensMTL) August 19, 2024