NHL Rumor Mill – October 3, 2025
How much could it cost the Canadiens to re-sign Lane Hutson? What’s the latest on Lukas Reichel, Carter Hart, and Michael McLeod? Find out in today’s NHL Rumor Mill.
WHAT WILL LANE HUTSON’S NEXT CONTRACT LOOK LIKE?
THE ATHLETIC: Arpon Basu and Pierre LeBrun examined what effect Luke Hughes’ new contract with the New Jersey Devils could have on the Montreal Canadiens’ efforts to re-sign Lane Hutson.
Hughes, 22, signed a seven-year deal with an average annual value of $9 million with the Devils.
Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson (NHL Images).
Basu noted that Hutson will have little leverage because he’s coming off his entry-level contract and lacks arbitration rights. As a 10.2.c restricted free agent, he’ll be ineligible to receive an offer sheet from a rival club. Like Hughes, the only leverage Hutson will have is when training camp starts next fall.
LeBrun believes Hughes’ contract sets the bar for young defensemen coming out of their entry-level deals. He also thinks the Canadiens, like the Florida Panthers, are trying to build a salary-cap culture that fosters a better ability to contend long term.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Adam Proteau believes Hutson is worthy of a salary higher than the $9 million AAV being earned by Hughes and what Ducks defenseman Jackson LaCombe will earn on his new eight-year extension starting in 2026-27.
Proteau pointed to Hutson’s 60 assists last season, his ice time, his ability to get in front of the puck (123 blocked shots), and his Calder Trophy win could put him in line for $10 million annually.
RG.ORG: Marco D’Amico suggested that Hutson’s limited leverage could keep the AAV on his next contract closer to $9 million annually than $10 million. The Canadiens could also offer up hefty signing bonuses and retirement compensation agreements that could boost Hutson’s after-tax earnings. Even if the AAV matches that of Hughes and LaCombe on paper, Hutson could net more in real dollars.
TVA SPORTS: Nicolas Cloutier doesn’t consider LaCombe as a good comparable for Hutson, suggesting Hughes is the better one. He also believes another dominant performance by the young Canadiens defenseman this season will give the youngster more negotiating power.
Cloutier wondered if the Canadiens could find a way to get Hutson extended as quickly as possible and integrate him into their salary structure for under $10 million annually.
Meanwhile, Renaud Lavoie reported further on how Hutson could use a tax break called the retirement compensation agreement, allowing a market like Montreal to offer financial gain to foreign-born players like Hutson.
For example, he would save up to $1.14 million on a contract with an AAV of $8 million. However, he would have to place 50 percent of his salary in trust to obtain the tax relief.
Lavoie cited sources who claim the Canadiens intend to use this leverage with the Hutson camp. It would enable the American-born blueliner to earn more money than Hughes with the Devils or LaCombe with the Ducks.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: These reports make interesting reading on what Huston’s next contract could look like, and its potential effects on other young defensemen coming out of their entry-level deals. D’Amico’s goes into great detail on what the Canadiens could do to keep the cap hit closer to $9 million.
Canadiens management has done a good job in signing their rising young stars to reasonable contracts with little difficulty. They possess most of the leverage in negotiations with the Hutson camp, but it could still be their biggest challenge given his uniqueness. It will take a significant sell job on their part to convince Hutson’s representatives to accept less than $10 million annually.
How the Canadiens handle Hutson’s contract negotiations could set the template for talks with promising winger Ivan Demidov when he becomes eligible to sign a contract extension next July.
COULD THE OILERS PURSUE LUKAS REICHEL?
EDMONTON JOURNAL: Jim Matheson reports Oilers general manager Stan Bowman is “kicking tires” on Chicago Blackhawks winger Lukas Reichel. Where the struggling youngster would fit within the Oilers is a thorny issue.
When Bowman was GM of the Blackhawks, he selected Reichel 17th overall in the 2020 NHL Draft. However, the 23-year-old winger has spun his wheels the last two seasons, and the Blackhawks no longer see him as a top-nine winger.
Bowman has done well thus far with reclamation projects such as Ty Emberson and Vasily Podkolzin. He also acquired Jake Walman and Connor Ingram. However, trying to fit Reichel’s $1.2 million AAV within their limited cap payroll could be challenging, as well as finding a suitable role for him within their current roster.
THE LATEST ON CARTER HART AND MICHAEL MCLEOD
THE ATHLETIC: Citing sources, Chris Johnston reports the Carolina Hurricanes will not sign goaltender Carter Hart or forward Michael McLeod.
Both were among the five former Hockey Canada players acquitted of sexual assault stemming from an incident in 2018 in London, Ontario. The Hurricanes were interested in Hart and McLeod, but they couldn’t reach agreements that both sides would be comfortable with.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Hart is reportedly close to signing a two-year contract with the Vegas Golden Knights. The deal would be made official on Oct. 15, and the earliest he can play for them is Dec. 1, when his NHL suspension is lifted.
I have never heard of a “Retirement compensation agreement” before!
Can anyone enlighten?
I would imagine that the government would have a say in where that retirement money is invested. Maybe windmills and solar? or the like?
LOL…in Quebec? More like Les Hells Port Authority Endowment Fund. Or perhaps the Strong Concrete OC Bridge Fulfillment Society.
For me Hutson is nearly a clone of Erik Karlsson. Brian Murray looked like he was taking a huge risk with that first contract to Erik. It ended up being a genius move. 3 Norris Trophy’s, probably should be four except for the Drew Doughty Feel Good Award that one season. If I’m Montreal, pay the kid, and lock him up long term.
So. The panic button can officially be pushed on how the Sens are a hot mess this pre-season. Green’s calm nonsense after each loss is paper thin. Stupid idea going to Quebec City in the first place. Pretty much out of town the entire pre-season. Random St.Louis visit for the Tkachuk family. Ya that worked out well. PR disaster. Trainwreck on the ice. If they came out of the gate 1-10 it wouldn’t surprise me. And nobody is really injured.
Saturday’s game against the Montreal Maulers should be cancelled.
Follow the RG.Org link that I provided. D’Amico describes it in great detail.
It looks as if the Government takes control of that money by putting it in a trust that it wishes it to be invested in. “many use a Retirement Compensation Arrangement (RCA) trust, which allows them to defer up to 49% of their salary. The deferred amount is split: half goes to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) as a refundable deposit, while the other half is invested in the trust. ”
The wording is vague on who chooses the trust and who controls it. I assume the Government.
The Canada Revenue Agency administers tax legislation and regulations for the Federal Government and most provinces and territories.
The government takes control only in the sense of taxation during disbursement.
The money in the fund is handled by the individual’s choice of investment, stocks, bonds, GICs or whatever.
If Lacombe is getting $9M then Hutson probably deserves $12M and Makar will deserve $20M when he comes up.
I intentionally used the word “deserve” because I don’t think Lacombe deserved his deal yet… I think he needed to prove that a single, strong half-season wasn’t just a fluke. Make him start this year with a new coach and see if he continues the progression or levels off. A lot of his metrics aren’t as good as Zellweger who is 2 year younger and also an RFA next year, so what are they paying him if he performs better than Lacombe this year? And Verbeek also has Mintyukov, Carlsson, and Gauthier as RFAs.
That’s why this deal seemed very premature to me… but it’s done and now it has a major ripple effect on other teams.
A lot of defensemen and agents are smiling today.
The Oilers are making a mistake not trying to sign Hart. Don’t let Edmonton residents make that decision. The worst thing about Edmonton is how far left the majority of people are.
Tuna – i am an oiler fan and could give 0 cares about Harts reputation. His career to date (not yet matching the hype albeit on poor flyer rosters – but by that same token Dostal has shined on a bad ducks team), combined with missing over a year of NHL competition, and not being able to be on the roster until this December just poses way too much uncertainty.
And then there was also indications that Hart had no interest in playing in many markets (presumably canada)
One thing that i feel gets masked of late in relation to the Panthers is that they also pay their top guys like top guys. Sure the players are not breaking the bank ala Kirill but they are not taking anything close to crosby style discounts either. They simply are fair deals at going rates.
Barkov, Bobrovsky, Tkachuk, Reinhart and Ekblad’s earlier prime deal all clocked in at 10 to 12% of the cap at the time they signed..Sam at about 9.7 and Bob around 12.2 or so.
And some, like Bob’s were not recieved well as great deals then. And Barkov heading into the off season in 2019 talk was that it would be comparable to Landeskog at around 8M not 10M
All this is simply to say if you like the panthers model the real discounts are not at the top of the line up but getting the supporting members to come in cheaper to be part of something special. At least in my opinion.
Bruins Guys … any ideas what the B’s are going to do with DiPietro.. trade ? Waivers…#3 goalie for a period ?
They should trade him if possible if not he needs to go on waivers asap. DiPietro is an above average AHL goalie but definitely not an NHL regular. His NHL stats in preseason and regular season are pretty bad. Korpisalo had a hell of a game last night facing 17 shots in the first. He let one goal in then slammed the door shut and got the 3-1 win. Zajicek looks to be the guy calm cool and poised with textbook movements in the crease. He looks huge in net too where DiPietro looks tiny.
Paul… don’t know why Sweeney didn’t trade him the day after they signed him when his stock was at his absolute highest and teams were looking for a goalie …DiPierto and one of Sweeney’s failed draft picks like Fabian to the Oilers would’ve brought something usable back