Cowan: Canadiens’ Mike Matheson put family first in contract negotiations
The Canadiens’ Mike Matheson is a class act.
It’s refreshing in today’s world of pro sports when an athlete focuses more on the important things in life rather than just money.
That’s what Matheson did when he agreed to a five-year, US$30-million contract with the Canadiens last Friday that kicks in next season with a US$6 million salary-cap hit. Yes, it’s a lot of money, but the 31-year-old defenceman would have been able to earn much more as an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Matheson has been the Canadiens’ best defenceman this season, posting 4-11-15 totals and a team-best plus-14 differential while averaging a team-high 24:44 of ice time per game. Through Sunday’s games, Matheson ranked 10th among NHL defencemen in ice time.
To put Matheson’s new contract in perspective, there are 60 defencemen in the NHL this season earning more than US$6 million, according to Spotrac.com. That number will certainly increase as the NHL’s team salary cap grows from US$95.5 million this season to US$113.5 million in 2027-28. Matheson will be the third-highest-paid defenceman on the Canadiens next season, behind Noah Dobson (US$9.5 million) and Lane Hutson (US$8.85 million).
Age shouldn’t be a factor for Matheson moving forward since he is one of the most physically fit players on the Canadiens and has an effortless skating style. His $6-million salary will be a bargain next season and even more of a bargain by the time his contract ends after the 2030-31 season.
After practice Monday in Brossard, Matheson said he wasn’t super-stressed about his contract situation but that he and his family are excited about their future in Montreal. He has a full no-movement clause for the first three years of the contract, a 14-team no-trade list in Year 4 and a five-team no-trade list in Year 5. If the Canadiens decided for some reason they wanted to move Matheson after three years, it would be an easy contract to trade.
“Just happy, honestly, to know that it’s done,” Matheson said Monday. “The little bit of distraction isn’t there anymore. I knew that I wasn’t looking to shoot the moon with how much I wanted. In that case, I wasn’t too stressed about it. I knew it would be something to get done.”
Matheson and his wife, Emily, have two young children. She won a gold medal in women’s hockey as a defenceman on Team USA at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics and is from Buffalo, which isn’t far from Montreal and is also where the family has its summer home. Matheson said that a few more million dollars on a contract wasn’t worth giving up the consistency in his family’s life. He also believes the Canadiens can win the Stanley Cup in the near future and that his contract will free up some money to sign other players to help make that happen.
“I think it made sense on both sides, for myself to have some security and be able to know that I get to commit to this team and continue to grow with them and see where we can take it,” Matheson said. “On the family side of things, not having my kids moving left, right and centre for the rest of my career. And then on their end, it allowed it to be a much lower number I think than if it was, say, a three- or four-year deal.”
Matheson is in the final season of a eight-year, US$39-million contract he signed as a 23-year-old with the Florida Panthers in 2017 after they selected him in the first round (23rd overall) of the 2013 NHL Draft. Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes was his agent at the time and negotiated that deal.
“I was lucky enough to sign an eight-year deal, so I haven’t gone through it very much,” Matheson said about contract negotiations. “And when I did I was very young and so I would say that I wasn’t involved in that negotiation at all. I’m not really sure that one went as well as this one. To be able to compare it would be hard to. I feel like I can only speak on how much I trust Kent, which is a lot, for sure.”
Matheson said he was involved in this contract negotiation, along with his agent, Philippe Lecavalier, who used to work with Hughes at Quartexx Management. Matheson admitted it was a little weird having Hughes on the other side of the table this time.
“But I think that’s what he does so well as a GM is how well he communicates with players and keeps that door open as a two-way street of communication,” Matheson said. “That was no different through this experience.”
Matheson’s parents still live in the Pointe-Claire home where he grew up, which also factored into his decision to take less money and stay in Montreal.
“It’s the human side of things, of knowing that first and foremost I get to continue raising my kids where I got to grow up and experience that,” he said. “And then have my parents and the rest of my family be able to see them grow up more than they would if I was anywhere else.”
Family first.
