NHL Rumors: Noah Dobson Isn’t Really a Contract Comparable for Lane Hutson

What could Lane Hutson be looking at on a contract extension with the Montreal Canadiens?

Marco D’Amico of RG.org: Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson is eligible for a contract extension. Noah Dobson signed an eight-year deal with a $9.5 million cap hit with the Canadiens, and many are thinking that it’s a one-to-one comparable, but that may not be the case. A source:

“Dobson is at a different point in his career than Hutson, not to say one is better than the other. But, in the world of contracts, RFA years are worth substantially less than UFA years, and teams generally have to fork up more money for those years when a player could have tested free agency.”

Dobson was a year away from being a UFA. Hutson is coming out of his entry-level deal with less leverage, with five years of RFA eligibility left and no arbitration rights yet. The source puts Hutson comparables at …

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“His contract comparable wouldn’t be Dobson in this case; it would be more like (Jake) Sanderson or (Brock) Faber or (Quinn) Hughes, who signed long-term deals as 10.2(c) RFAs. It’s about comparing apples to apples here, even though I think Hutson could be elite.”

Sanderson signed an eight-year deal at an $8.05 million cap hit (9.2% of the cap) and Brock Faber at eight years at $8.5 million per (8.9% of the cap). A 9% to 9.5% of the cap would put a six to eight-year deal in the $8.8 to $9.5 million cap hit.

The RFA market is going through a bit of a reset as top RFAs are signing for less term and a little less money – see Matthew Knies and Wyatt Johnson. Hutson’s camp will be eyeing with the New Jersey Devils, and Luke Hughes will eventually agree on.

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