It was with relief that we finally got the good news that Cole Caufield had signed his contract. However, according to many analysts, it should have happened much sooner. There were a number of stumbling blocks in the negotiations, and who better to talk about them than Cole's own agent. <q>Yes, it was important for the Habs not to go over Nick's number, replied Brisson. Suzuki is the captain. But there are aspects to clarify. Cole was five years away from becoming an uncompensated independent player. In Suzuki's case, he was four years away from becoming an uncompensated autonomous player when he got his extension. The Canadiens therefore had one less year of autonomy to buy with Cole, compared to Nick. That's a lot of dollars. We looked at several comparisons for Cole, continued Brisson. There were the contracts of Tim Stützle, Josh Norris, Dylan Cozens and Matthew Boldy. So Cole received a deal that compares with other young NHL stars. We found a fair contract. - Pat Brisson</q> These explanations shed a little more light on the competitiveness of the situation. Despite this, the two sides have reached a fair agreement, and Brisson says he's very enthusiastic about the future of his client and the Canadiens. <q>We're very happy. For the Habs and Cole, it's a good marriage. The team is heading in the right direction. They want to get out of their rebuild and they're looking at their pieces for the future. They have Nick Suzuki, Caufield and several other good youngsters. They're looking to solidify their core. - Pat Brisson</q> <blockquote class=twitter-tweet><p lang=en dir=ltr>Yes, it was important for the Habs not to go over Nick's number 🔵⚪️🔴<a href=https://t.co/3p9opjsOXP>https://t.co/3p9opjsOXP</a>- TVA Sports (@TVASports) <a href=https://twitter.com/TVASports/status/1665768642192056320?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>June 5, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src=https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js charset=utf-8> This confirms what Tony Marinaro was saying just 24 hours ago. And it makes sense. Nick Suzuki is the best player and the leader of this line-up. Kent Hughes has drawn a line in the sand.