The New Jersey Devils and Jacob Markstrom want to get a contract extension worked out
The Fourth Period: The New Jersey Devils and Jacob Markstrom continue their contract extension talks for a multi-year deal. The 35-year-old is in the last year of his $6 million per deal. Both sides have said they want to work something out.
Kevin Weekes reported last week that the Devils’ initial offer was for $5 million a season, though the number of years wasn’t given.
League sources say that Markstrom could be looking for more money, and he hopes to get a deal done soon. The Devils have plenty of cap space available for next season, currently around $18 million.
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Where do the Montreal Canadiens and Lane Hutson go now?
TSN: Pierre LeBrun was asked about the chances that Lane Hutson and the Montreal Canadiens get an extension done before their season opener Wednesday night. LeBrun notes that sides have tried, and around 10 days ago, the Canadiens made an eight-year offer, which may have involved some deferred money. Hutson wasn’t interested in deferring money.
“So where do they go now? I think both sides have kind of retreated a bit which is probably what they needed to bring the temperature down in these talks. Yeah, in a perfect world they’d have an extension in place now, but they’ve got all year. He’s a restricted free agent next summer and the Habs will want to protect their salary cap culture that they’ve had with their core players and they hope they can come to a deal with a very special player at some point.”
TSN: Darren Dreger was asked about the chances are that Lane Hutson and the Montreal Canadiens get an extension done before their season opener Wednesday night. Dreger says that it’s unlikely and he can’t see them closing anytime soon. There is some hope that Canadiens GM Kent Hughes and Hutson’s agents have a meeting as early as Thursday.
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“But frankly, Gino, there’s no guarantee that that meeting is going to happen. We know for the last few months, several weeks, that there have been on and off negotiations. We know that at times this has been an emotionally charged situation between the Habs and their star young defenceman. So, I think right now, everybody is just trying to lower the temperature in the process and calm things down.”
The Canadiens are looking for eight years, and Hutson might be pushing for six.
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