8 years at $8.05 per year for Jake Sanderson: what does that mean for Kaiden Guhle?

The Senators decided to make things interesting on this Wednesday evening in September…

By signing defenseman Jake Sanderson to an eight-year extension. Sanderson, who has played a total of 77 NHL games (!!!), will receive an annual salary of $8.05 million, which is a lot for a guy with little experience…

If there’s one person who should be happy to see this deal today… It’s Kaiden Guhle.

After all, he (too) was drafted in 2020 and the two defensemen have a pretty similar style. Sanderson is more offensive…

But overall, the play of the two main players is very similar. They have a fairly similar offensive production (0.41 points per game for Guhle in 22-23, 0.42 points per game for Sanderson)… And despite everything, both guys stand out for their defensive play.

They may not be carbon copies… but we’re talking about practically the same defender. For now, at least.

On the other side of the coin… Kent Hughes must be grinding his teeth right now. That said, Guhle’s contract expires in two years, and the Habs’ GM has time to think about his plan.

Because a salary of $8 million per season is more than Cole Caufield ($7.85 million per season) and more than Nick Suzuki ($7.875 million per season). The Habs, who wanted to respect the salary scale when signing Tit-Cole, will have a choice to make…

Sanderson’s contract reminds me a little of Mattias Samuelsson’s in Buffalo. The Sabres defenseman, we recall, signed a seven-year deal valued at $30 million with the club… when he had only 54 NHL games under his belt.

There’s a risk attached to all this, because the image of a single season (or a few career games) doesn’t always reflect the beauty of a career. But we all agree that these decisions are reviewed and reviewed again…

I’m really, really looking forward to seeing what happens in Ottawa. Pierre Dorion is doing everything in his power to keep his job, and that means making some daring decisions.

But above all…

I can’t wait to see what all this means for Kaiden Guhle. Let me ask you a question, as I finish this text…

If Kent Hughes had offered him the same contract as we’ve seen from the man who just played his rookie season in Montreal, what would your reaction be?

I’d be curious.

Breaking news

– What a good question.

– That’s the mentality to have.

– Nice read on Kevin Poulin’s retirement.

– Very nice .