Lane Hutson, Canadiens Agree to 8-Year, $70.8M Contract, Won 2025 Calder Trophy

The Montreal Canadiens signed Lane Hutson to an eight-year, $70.8 million contract extension on Monday, per NHL.com.

The 21-year-old defenseman won the Calder Trophy (best rookie) last season after scoring six goals and adding 60 assists in 82 games, breaking the team record for single-season points from a first-year defenseman (the previous mark was Chris Chelios' 64 points in the 1984-85 campaign).

He also tied the rookie record for assists by a rookie defenseman (previously set by Larry Murphy in 1980-81), and was just the second Canadiens player to win the Calder Trophy since goalie Ken Dryden did so in the 1971-72 season.

Thus far in the 2025-26 season he's registered an assist in three games.

His teammates were certainly pleased to learn of his big payday:

The Canadiens have been busy locking up their key players for the foreseeable future:

Hutson, meanwhile, would have been a restricted free agent after the season. Signing the extension now allows him to simply focus on hockey.

"I think what it says about Lane Hutson is he likes playing in Montreal, and he wants Montreal to be in a position to win," general manager Kent Hughes told reporters. "... We're very happy to have him with us. We were very happy to be able to draft him as late (second round at the 2022 NHL draft) as we managed to get him. We consider ourselves lucky, and we're very happy he's going to be part of the team long-term."

Negotiations between the sides weren't always smooth. According to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, Hutson initially rejected an eight-year offer worth around $72 million in September, a deal that had "some deferred money to bring the AAV down."

That rejection "led to the temperature rising in this negotiation," especially since he likely could have demanded something in excess of $9 million in AAV on the open market, though "cooler heads finally prevailed, and according to league sources, both sides started to gain traction toward a deal Saturday going into Sunday."

Ultimately, Hutson landed $55 million in guarantees and the Canadiens didn't stray too far from their previous offer. And LeBrun added that "my understanding is that it's the player, Hutson, who was the biggest factor in a deal finally getting done. He didn't want his situation to hang over the team all year and be a distraction. And ultimately, he bought into what Habs management was saying about the cap culture and helping the team stay competitive for many years."