Marc Dumont
Now that the Montreal Canadiens have signed rookies Ivan Demidov and Jakub Dobes to contract extensions, we have a better idea of how the salary cap situation will unfold heading into the 2027-28 season.
Admittedly, we’re placing the horse behind the cart, as we still have to go through the entire 2026-27 campaign, but there’s no harm in projecting a team’s financial manoeuvrability moving forward, especially when we’re discussing a league which has projected the salary cap to increase significantly over the course of the next few seasons.
By 2027-28, the cap is expected to be $113.5M, before reaching $123M the following year.
This will inevitably lead to an abundance of rich contracts signed by young, star players, a situation that is quite advantageous to teams that have already locked down their core.
Teams such as the Montreal Canadiens.
Between Nick Suzuki ($7.88M), Cole Caufield ($7.85M), and Juraj Slafkovsky ($7.6M), the Canadiens only have $23.33M committed to paying their first line for the foreseeable future, as all three players signed eight-year deals before the most recent uptick in salary cap was announced.
Simply put, the Canadiens are very lucky to have an expert capologist like John Sedgwick in the mix.
That’s not to say they won’t have to spend big money in the future, but players like Lane Hutson, Noah Dobson, Mike Matheson, and Kaiden Guhle have also signed long-term deals, ensuring a certain amount of stability in the lineup, both from a production and financial standpoint.
Not every player signed long-term will fulfil his entire contract in Montreal, but as it stands, the team is in a reasonably healthy situation.
Montreal Canadiens Salary Cap Situation
The Habs have $37.8M in signed forwards for the 2027-28 season, though that only accounts for six players: Demidov, Suzuki, Caufield, Slafkovsky, Jake Evans, and Alexandre Texier. Fortunately, the star players are already under contract.
As for the defencemen, Dobson, Hutson, Matheson, and Guhle account for $29.9M in salary expenditures, leaving three players to be signed to fill out the blue line.
And the goaltenders are straightforward, as Montembeault will be a free agent, while Dobes and Fowler are under contract for a mere $6.3M.
The final tally is as follows:
The Montreal Canadiens have 12 players under contract for the 2027-28 season, with $74M in salary cap space already accounted for, leaving them with $39.5M in available cap space.
They have to sign a fair amount of players, but we’re discussing skaters such as Zachary Bolduc and Arber Xhekaj, which connotes that the internal salary cap expenditures should be reasonable.
There are other factors to consider, such as potential performance bonuses, but given the high percentage of star players who are already signed to reasonable deals, it must be said that the Canadiens have done a good job navigating the ever-shifting financial realities of running a professional sports team in the salary-cap era.
Montreal Canadiens salary cap numbers via PuckPedia.
