The Canadiens have locked in Kaiden Guhle with a six-year, $33.3M contract extension.
Starting in 2025-26, Guhle will count $5.55M against the salary cap each year until the end of the 2030-31 season. Here’s how his salary breaks down:
– 2025-26: $2M base, $5M signing bonus
– 2026-27: $5.25M base
– 2027-28: $6.55M base
– 2028-29: $5M base
– 2029-30: $5M base, modified no-trade clause (five-team list)
– 2030-31: $4.5M base, modified no-trade clause (five-team list)
Guhle is just finishing up his entry-level contract and is now the second young player this month to get a big deal from Montreal, after Juraj Slafkovsky’s eight-year, $60.8M contract signed on July 1st.
Big Commitment for Young Talent:
This new deal isn’t the maximum length possible but still keeps him with the team until he can become an unrestricted free agent at age 29 in 2031. Both Guhle and the Canadiens now have some financial predictability moving forward.
Drafted in 2020 as the 16th overall pick, Guhle skipped over playing in AHL Laval and went straight to NHL action in 2022 after two seasons post-draft . Unfortunately, leg and ankle injuries limited him to just 44 games during his rookie year.
Despite these setbacks, he showed promise by averaging over twenty minutes per game with four goals and fourteen assists for eighteen points total. Although he struggled defensively with a -19 rating and low possession metrics like CF% of 43.6%, it was expected given his rookie status on a rebuilding team.
Fans might think this investment shows how much faith Montreal has in their young defenseman.
Last season saw improvements despite fewer points; he played more minutes per game without major injuries across seventy out of eighty-two games! He ranked third among Canadiens defensemen scoring-wise with twenty-two points (six goals and sixteen assists) while also being second on the team for blocked shots at one hundred seventy-eight blocks—only behind Matheson who often paired up with him even-strength-wise.
Investment Analysis:
Montreal sees Guhle as a key part of their defensive lineup for years ahead even though he’s not projected to be an elite No.1 defender yet but isn’t getting paid like one either! His cap hit matches what similar players such as Brett Pesce or Matt Roy earned recently which seems fair considering potential future growth when salary caps may rise further down line making current costs relatively cheaper later stages career-wise allowing another big payday opportunity upon becoming UFA again age-wise around prime time!
For now though he’ll only cost them about eight hundred sixty-three thousand dollars against cap final year ELC ending soon before new kicks starting next couple seasons onwards till end decade practically speaking long-term wise overall picture looking bright indeed perhaps?
What do you think about this move?
