Montreal Canadiens sign Mike Matheson to five-year contract extension
Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
The Montreal Canadiens have locked up defender Mike Matheson to a five-year contract extension, the team announced on Friday.
The contract will be for an average cap hit of $6 million per year. The 31-year-old was set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, and he will now take the mantle of the veteran leader for this group going forward.
Matheson has four goals and 10 assists in 22 games so far this season, and he leads the team in average ice time and in plus/minus with a +13. He has had a great start to the season playing with Noah Dobson, and the Canadiens have now locked up four of their six defenders long-term as Matheson joins Dobson, Lane Hutson, and Kaiden Guhle.
The Montreal-native is currently in the last year of a deal that pays him $4.875 million, so he will see a slight increase as the salary cap increases. The percentage on the cap goes down from 6.13% to 5.77%.
