Ivan Demidov’s contract: “The Canadiens don’t want to see anyone earning $10 million a year.”

Félix Forget
Ivan Demidov’s contract: “The Canadiens don’t want to see anyone earning $10 million a year.”
Credit: Getty Images

In less than six months, Ivan Demidov will be able to sign a new contract. The Russian is in the second year of his three-year entry-level contract, so he'll be able to sign a new pact as early as July 1.

And as with Lane Hutson last summer, this will be the topic of the Habs' summer.

The question now is what that contract will look like. Demidov, unlike Hutson, will have a deadline (it has to be before September 16) if he wants to sign for eight years. But the main issue will be salary.

And on that subject, Tony Marinaro made an interesting point on 98.5 FM this evening:

The Canadiens don't want anyone making $10 million a year. – Tony Marinaro

It's clear, then, that on the heels of the exploding salary cap, the club has changed the way it thinks about its salary hierarchy. Previously, the club didn't want a player to earn more than $7.875 million a year on his second contract (Nick Suzuki's salary)… but this was no longer realistic with the league's new salary reality.

Lane Hutson signed for $8.85 million a year… and Noah Dobson, who was a special case (it was his third contract), signed for $9.5 million. He's the club's highest paid player at the moment.

If Marinaro is to be believed, then the Habs will want to try to convince Demidov(who will be spending the summer in town again) to sign long-term for less than $10 million a year. That said, what works in the club's favor is that the culture of leaving money on the table is really ingrained at the Habs.

All the guys did it before him: it would be surprising if Demidov, who doesn't seem to have that kind of attitude, wanted to shake things up.

What's clear is that in a world where the Canadiens manage to sign Demidov long-term at less than $10 million a year, the club will be seriously out of its depth. He is, after all, the biggest piece of the core yet to sign his big contract.

At the same time, this will give the team plenty of room to maneuver in their search for reinforcements. The question is whether, under such circumstances, the backup in question could earn more than $10 million a year.


Overtime

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– Ivan Demidov, currently second in the Calder Trophy race. [The Athletic]

– Defeat for the Rocket.

– Alexander Zharovsky steps up among NHL prospects. [The Athletic]

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