Montreal Canadiens' 3 Best Contracts of 2023-24

The Montreal Canadiens are building something that should look very nice in a few years, but have some bad contracts to deal with right now when it doesn't really matter. At the same time, there are some very good contracts that the Canadiens have on their roster, but it also might not matter in a couple years. Regardless, let's have a look at the three best Montreal has on their team this season.

Sam Montembeault

Sam Montembeault established himself as a starter last season and carried that over to this season. Like many goalies, he does have blowup games on occasion, but for the most part, he is consistently good and gives the Canadiens a chance to win. He is in the second year of a two-year deal that sees him get $1 million AAV, which is very good for what he has provided the team. Even the cap hit on his three-year extension he already signed ($3.15 million AAV) looks like it is going to be a steal as well. For a team at the bottom of the league, Montembeault has a .906 SV% with 15 wins in 37 games.

Michael Matheson

Michael Matheson also established himself last season on the Canadiens. He was kind of an overlooked when the Canadiens picked him up from the Pittsburgh Penguins, but he has turned into the team's number one defenseman and has been very good offensively, scoring 10 goals and 53 points in 75 games while logging 25:36 per game. He is on the top power-play unit and is taking a lot of pressure off of the younger defensemen trying to adjust to the NHL.

Cayden Primeau

Cayden Primeau has been better than expected this season. He started as a third-string goalie behind both Montembeault and Jake Allen, but has proven himself to the point where Allen could be traded and the team is comfortable with him playing a good amount moving forward. The 24-year-old has eight wins in 19 games, but has a .908 SV% and has been impressive lately once given more of a chance. He has a cap hit of $890,000 AAV for another year after this one, so the Canadiens are set in net for the time being.