Mike Matheson Locks In With Montreal for Five More Years
So, here’s what’s been happening around the Montreal Canadiens — and it’s pretty big news if you follow the team. Defenseman Mike Matheson has been signed to a brand-new five-year contract extension, a deal worth $30 million that will carry him through the 2030–31 season. It was announced out in Las Vegas, right before the Habs faced the Golden Knights, and the timing alone tells you how important this move was for the organization.
The contract comes with an average annual value of $6 million, and a huge portion of it — over $20 million — is tied to signing bonuses. There’s also some serious protection built in for Matheson. For the first three years, he’s covered by a full no-movement clause, giving him complete control over where he plays. In the fourth year, that shifts to a no-move paired with a 14-team no-trade list, and in the fifth and final year, that list shrinks to five teams. So clearly, the Canadiens wanted to make sure he felt rooted in Montreal for the long run.
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And honestly, based on his play, it’s not hard to see why. Matheson has been one of the Canadiens’ most reliable and impactful players. This season alone, he’s already put up 14 points — four goals and ten assists — in just 22 games. He’s sitting at a strong +13 differential and, maybe most impressively, he’s leading the entire team in average ice time at nearly 25 minutes a night. League-wide, that puts him among the NHL’s top ten in workload, which says a lot about how heavily he’s leaned on.
Since arriving in Montreal back in 2022 from Pittsburgh, Matheson has stepped into the kind of role most defensemen only hope to reach. He’s set career highs across the board, including a massive 62-point season in 2023–24, along with his best totals in power-play production. Basically, once he put on a Canadiens sweater, everything in his game seemed to level up.
His journey to this point has been a steady climb. Drafted 23rd overall by the Florida Panthers in 2012, he spent several seasons developing there before a move to Pittsburgh in 2020. Montreal acquired him two years later in a trade that now looks like a major win. Add to that his international success — including a gold medal with Team Canada — and you get a picture of a defenseman who’s built both skill and experience into a dependable, top-pair presence.
Now, with this extension in place, Matheson isn’t just part of Montreal’s present — he’s officially a cornerstone of their future. And judging by how much he’s taken on, and how much he continues to deliver, the Canadiens clearly believe he’s exactly the kind of player they want leading the way.
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