Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes has spoken out for the first time about one of his most important announcements of the summer, the youngster’s eight-year, $62.8 million signing on Monday. sniper Cole Caufield.
“It was important for us. Cole is a team guy and wanted to be in Montreal long term. It was our goal too, to go for the long term. Hockey players are happy to play in Montreal when the context is good, and that’s the case for Cole,” mentioned the GM in Buffalo to assess the hopes for the next draft.
“I often hear that guys don’t want to play in Montreal, I don’t agree with that,” said the general manager of the Canadian, Thursday, on the sidelines of the evaluation camp for NHL hopefuls in Buffalo. . Guys are happy to be in a good environment when they play good hockey,” he said.
Caufield will earn an average annual salary just below that of Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki. Hughes noted that it was important to the team that Suzuki remain the highest-paid forward in the organization. However, he recalled that the value of Caufield’s contract also respects the current market for talented players who have just finished their rookie contract and who opt for a long-term contract.
Suzuki averages $7.875 million per season until the end of the 2029-2030 campaign.
Caufield saw his season come to an end after 46 games and he had surgery on his right shoulder. He still scored a total of 26 goals and 10 assists.
