The Canadian no longer has a free agent in its ranks. The last skater without a contract this summer in the organization, Jesse Ylönen has signed a one-year contract with the Habs, the team announced Monday morning.
It’s a two-way deal, meaning if he’s traded to Laval, Ylönen won’t get his full NHL salary. The contract is worth $775,000 in the NHL and $200,000 in the American League, with a guaranteed salary of $275,000.
However, Ylönen must now go through waivers to be transferred to the American League, a stage he has never had to pass so far in his career. The surplus of attackers expected in Montreal in the fall will therefore make his file interesting to follow.
Ylönen had 16 points (6 goals, 10 assists) in 37 games last season in Montreal, and had 32 points (11 goals, 21 assists) in 39 outings with the Rocket. He basically spent the second half of the season in the NHL; as of January 11, he was traded twice to the Rocket, once during CH’s spring break, the other time in the last week of the calendar to help the CH’s farm club in its push towards the playoffs .
The Canadiens have 14 forwards on one-way contracts for next season. Added to them are Juraj Slafkovsky and Sean Farrell, who played games with the Habs last season, not to mention Emil Heineman, who should be fighting for a position.
Ylönen was drafted in the 2nd round (35th overall) by the CH in 2018. That year, Montreal had drafted 11 players, including 7 in the top 100. Ylönen and defender Jordan Harris are the only two who are still members organisation. Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Alexander Romanov, however, both brought 1st round picks to the team, picks that later allowed the Canadian to acquire Christian Dvorak and Kirby Dach.
This contract concludes a relatively muted off-season for Kent Hughes in terms of contracts. Besides Cole Caufield’s 8-year, $62.8 million deal, Alex Newhook (4 years, $11.6 million) is the only other player to sign a deal worth more than $10 million in total .
The general manager of the Canadian will now be able to look into the files of his players who will end their last year of contract in 2023-2024. Most of them have the right to sign a contract extension since July 1.
Samuel Montembeault, Sean Monahan, Mike Hoffman, Rem Pitlick and Chris Wideman will all become unrestricted free agents in the summer of 2024. Presumably, of the lot, Montembeault is the most likely to sign an extension in the coming months. Last year, fellow goaltender Jake Allen signed his contract extension on Oct. 1 during training camp.
Monahan will be another intriguing case, but since he has a one-year deal, he can’t sign a new deal until Jan. 1. We will also have to see, at this point, if the Canadiens want to retain him in the long term, or trade him to a team that aspires to great honors.
Arber Xhekaj and Justin Barron are the main restricted free agents for the summer of 2024, in addition to Ylönen.