Mike Matheson (Photo by Brett Holmes/Getty Images)
The Montreal Canadiens have locked up a major piece of their core on the backend for the foreseeable future, signing Mike Matheson to a five-year, $30M contract.
The 32-year-old was in the last year of his current deal and had mentioned time and time again how much he appreciated playing at home in Montreal and how much he appreciated the guys in the room.
When he met with the Canadiens’ upper management in Buffalo around the NHL Combine last June, everyone assumed it was to negotiate a new deal. Matheson hadn’t gotten the chance to meet with management for his end-of-season meetings after the Canadiens were eliminated from the playoffs, and happened to be in Buffalo at that time.
When questioned on his future, Matheson persisted in his position that Montreal was a place he’d like to spend the rest of his career in. Well, Matheson put his words into action, gifting Canadiens fans a pretty substantial Black Friday discount with a $6M annual average salary (AAV) on his new deal.
NHL executives believed that, given the thin 2026 free agent market and Matheson’s performances, he could have easily asked for $8M per year, pushed for more term, or, depending on the team, both.
But, throughout the negotiation, Matheson and agent Philippe Lecavalier remained committed to finding a deal to be made in Montreal.
“He could have gotten more money on the open market,” said Lecavalier. “But Mike wanted to stay in Montreal. Playing here checks off so many boxes for him and his family that he wanted to make it work.”
And make it work he did, as his signing now puts the Canadiens in an enviable spot from a salary cap perspective. The Habs now have Lane Hutson, Noah Dobson, and Kaiden Guhle signed for the foreseeable future, just a shade under $30M per season.
That’s the kind of cap management that allows the Canadiens to not only ensure a healthy fiscal distribution of funds, but the flexibility to add a big piece when the opportunity strikes.
Matheson, like his other teammates listed above, felt the situation was too good to pass up in Montreal to chase the dollar elsewhere.
“Like Patrice Bergeron when he got to Boston, Mike has found a home with the Canadiens,” Lecavalier mentioned.
“He has the trust of the coaching staff, he loves the guys in the room, his kids get to be close to family; it just checked so many boxes for him.”
Making it Work in Montreal
The negotiations didn’t take too long between both camps. The Canadiens preferred a new deal on the shorter term, while Matheson’s camp was looking for a level of security closer to six years.
And, like any good deal, both sides came to some compromises.
General Manager Kent Hughes, who has insisted that the Canadiens had ways around the high taxes in the province, used a few different tactics to get this deal done.
“He would not have accepted this contract with any other team than Montreal,” added Lecavalier. “There were signing bonuses and the RCA that helped make the deal more valuable for Mike. But, at the end of the day, staying in Montreal was the driving factor.”
It’s important to note that Matheson can benefit from both US and Canadian tax domicile, which means that his 20.8M signing bonuses (out of a total $30M) are taxed at a lower rate than regular salary.
Then there’s the Retirement Compensation Arrangement (RCA), which allows players to defer nearly half their salary, avoiding Canada’s high tax rates during their career. Once they retire — often back in the U.S — the refunded portion is taxed at much lower U.S. rates, allowing them to keep significantly more of their earnings.
Needless to say, Kent Hughes used all his available resources to get Matheson good value, while keeping the cap low for the team interests.
The result? A happy compromise for both parties.
“My job is always to secure a deal the player is going to be happy with, and Mike is very excited for what comes next,” said Lecavalier. “This is a deal that makes both the Canadiens and Mike very happy, so everyone wins.”
With Matheson locked in until age 37, the Canadiens now have enough visibility into the future of their defensive structure to begin utilizing their excess on defense to round out their forward corps, especially down the middle.
With a good amount of draft picks in the 2026 NHL Draft, a solid bank of prospects, and good NHL-level depth on the backend, the Canadiens are a few moves away from contention.
“Mike and his teammates have made winning in Montreal a priority,” concluded Lecavalier.
The possibility of winning in Montreal was an attractive outcome that Matheson wanted to be a part of and felt the club was on the verge of achieving. By signing a hometown discount — quite literally — he’s given his team the necessary wiggle room to go out and get those extra pieces.