With the 2025-26 NHL season set to begin on Tuesday, the Montreal Canadiens are still trying to wrap up some business off the ice.

Reigning Calder Trophy winner Lane Hutson is entering the final season of his entry-level deal and is set to become a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

The 21-year-old left-shot defenceman led all rookies last season with six goals and 66 points in 82 games, leading the Canadiens to their first playoff appearance since 2021.

General manager Kent Hughes joined TSN690 on Monday and discussed the ongoing negotiations with Hutson and his expectations on the new season.

“I’ve been asked if the fan base should be worried,” said Hughes. “The simple thing I can say is that you should be worried when the player is an incumbent [unrestricted] free agent, and Hutson won’t be that for a long time. So, we’ll figure it out one way or another.”

Other talented, young defencemen signed new deals over the off-season, which could have an impact on Montreal’s negotiation with Hudson.

Luke Hughes of the New Jersey Devils missed a portion of training camp as a restricted free agent before signing a seven-year, $63 million deal on Oct. 1.

Meanwhile, the Anaheim Ducks locked up defenceman Jackson LaCombe to an eight-year, $72 million deal as he was also set to become a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

The Canadiens general manager believes that the situation with Hughes is more of a comparable than the Ducks’ negotiations with LaCombe.

“Quite frankly, I don’t fully understand LaCombe’s contract,” said Hughes. “He’s more of a comparable to [Noah] Dobson, who signed [with us] with one year of arbitration before free agency. LaCombe has two years of arbitration before free agency.

“[Luke] is a comparable, but I think all of us knew, generally speaking, where he would come out a long time ago. I don’t think anyone is surprised.”

The Canadiens entered last season hoping to be in the mix for the playoffs with their rebuild well underway. The team took a giant step forward, finishing with a 40-31-11 record to claim the final wild-card position in the Eastern Conference.

This year, Hughes admits that his perspective as a manager is changing from focusing on the future to weighing current and future needs.

“‘Expectation’ is a funny word, but we want to make the playoffs, there’s no question about that,” said Hughes. “Whatever expectations the fans and media have, it’s even greater in our locker room.

“As a manager, I feel like we’ve been looking beyond ‘this year’ all the time and 1759852330 we’re starting to shift to focusing on this year at the same time as the future. Ultimately, we came here to build a team that can compete for a Stanley Cup for a period of years, and I don’t think our task is done yet.”

The biggest move the team made in the off-season was the acquisition of Dobson from the New York Islanders. Montreal dealt forward Emil Heineman and two first-round picks to acquire the right-shot defenceman and signed him to an eight-year, $76 million deal.

Hughes believes the move locks down an area of need that is one of the hardest to fill in the NHL and is someone who will fit right into the Canadiens’ style of play.

“In the hockey world, a No.1 centre would be the most difficult position to fill if it’s not homegrown, but second is a No. 1 right-shot defenceman,” said Hughes. “Those thoughts led us to pursue him when we knew he was on the market.

“Dobson is a very efficient puck-moving defenceman, and when we look at how we play and what we look for in defencemen, he was a very good fit for our style of play.”