Did the Habs make Lane Hutson a substantial contract offer this summer?

Canadiens management doesn’t discuss contract negotiations publicly, but you have to think Hutson has already been given a substantial offer as he heads into the final season of his NHL entry-level contract with a US$950,000 salary-cap hit.

“Contract negotiations, obviously, we don’t want to talk about those publicly,” Jeff Gorton, the Canadiens’ executive vice-president of hockey operations, said at the team’s golf tournament last month. “But we feel good about Lane and getting him done in the future.”

A couple of recent contract signings by young NHL defencemen provide an idea of the kind of money the 21-year-old Hutson will be looking for after winning the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie, posting 6-60-66 to

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