Kent Hughes negotiated hundreds of contracts in his career as a players’ agent. He has mastered this art for a long time. Now on the other side of the table as general manager, Hughes must learn to pull cover from the edge of the team.
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On the eve of his second full season in the GM seat of the Montreal Canadiens, Hughes found himself faced with his biggest challenge, that of offering a long-term contract to Cole Caufield.
Hughes settled the case quickly by offering an eight-year, $62.8 million pact to Caufield. The small number 22 will therefore pocket an average salary of 7.85 million until 2030-2031.
Caufield and Pat Brisson, one of the most renowned agents in the NHL, were certainly smiling when they concluded this agreement.
“We are very happy, said Brisson in a telephone interview with the Journal before getting on a plane for a flight between Las Vegas and Buffalo. For the Canadian and Cole, it is a good marriage. The team is heading in the right direction. They want to get out of their reconstruction and they look at their songs for the future. They have Nick Suzuki, Caufield and several other good youngsters. They seek to solidify their core.”
Huge potential
But Caufield and Brisson weren’t the only two happy men.
Hughes, Jeff Gorton and Geoff Molson also have plenty to cheer about. First, they’ve rooted a 22-year-old star winger for the next eight seasons. Caufield is already a strong face in the team.
The CH won an important battle, that of the duration of the agreement. They landed the maximum possible with eight seasons. Caufield has the potential to establish himself as a 40-goal scorer in the NHL, maybe even 50. If he becomes that fearsome winger who scores goals by the ton, he won’t have a contract that’s too heavy for nearly eight million.
Gary Bettman has previously said the salary cap will increase by just one million for the 2023-24 season, from 82.5 million to 83.5 million. However, we expect the ceiling to thaw from 2024-2025 since by then the players will have repaid the debt they contracted with the owners due to the pandemic.
Virtually identical to Suzuki
If we have to talk about another victory, there is that of respecting the salary scale. At 7.85 million, Caufield will earn virtually the same salary as his center and great friend, Nick Suzuki. The Habs captain will remain the highest paid forward at 7.875 million. Suzuki had initialed this contract extension on October 12, 2021 when Marc Bergevin was still the CEO.
Brisson confirmed that in the negotiations with CH, Suzuki’s contract represented a form of ceiling.
“Yes, it was important for the Canadian not to exceed Nick’s number,” replied Brisson. Suzuki is the captain. But there are aspects to clarify. Cole was five years away from becoming an unrestricted free agent. In Suzuki’s case, he was four years away from becoming an unrestricted free agent when he got his extension. The Canadian therefore had one less year of autonomy to buy with Cole, compared to Nick. That’s a lot of dollars.
“We looked at several comparisons for Cole, continued Brisson. There were the contracts of Tim Stützle, Josh Norris, Dylan Cozens and Matthew Boldy. Cole therefore received a contract that compares with that of other young stars of the NHL. We found a fair contract.”
hasty negotiations
Brisson and Hughes did not tie up this contract in two or three days. They had been talking to each other for several months.
“I give a lot of credit to the Canadian in this file, mentioned the agent who now resides in California. When Cole opted for shoulder surgery in January, we had already started talking to them about a future contract. The CH was ready to offer him a contract even before his operation. There is always a risk when you have surgery. But that did not scare the Canadian.
“We spoke to each other practically every two or three weeks, he chained. It was good negotiations. And for Cole, it’s a good thing to wrap up this case. He won’t have any distractions for his training summer. I know he is very happy.”