After announcing the signing of Cole Caufield, Kent Hughes was very clear: the highest earned player had to remain Nick Suzuki. In this sense, Cole earns $25,000 less per year than the captain, which is still an excellent deal for a young player. Now that rumours are rife about Pierre-Luc Dubois' possible arrival in Montreal, his contract extension should normally go in the same direction as Cole Caufield's, but there would be one important nuance. Pierre-Luc Dubois would ask for 9 million per season in a <i>sign and trade</i>. That is, the Jets would sign him on their behalf, before trading him to a team for an eight-year deal. Knowing that Suzuki earns $7.875 million a year, it seems impossible that Hughes would pay that price, but Arpon Basu was keen to set the record straight. <q>There's a misunderstanding here and Kent Hughes clarified it today. Setting Suzuki as the cap hit for Caufield was because they were coming off an entry-level contract.(off a rookie contract) Similar circumstances. Wouldn't necessarily apply to a UFA or, in this case, someone a year away from a UFA (like Dubois). Very different.</q> <blockquote class=twitter-tweet><p lang=en dir=ltr>There is a misunderstanding here and Kent Hughes clarified it today. Setting Suzuki as a cap for Caufield was because they were coming off entry level. Similar circumstances. That wouldn't necessarily apply for a UFA or, in this case, someone a year away from UFA. Very different. <a href=https://t.co/DMakQvmP23>https://t.co/DMakQvmP23</a>- Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) <a href=https://twitter.com/ArponBasu/status/1666891399973724175?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>June 8, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src=https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js charset=utf-8> An eight-year contract at $9 million per season would give Dubois $72 million, and according to current NHL comparables, that's what he deserves. Based on Basu's corrections and Hughes himself, you'd have to think it's very possible Dubois would have that kind of deal on the table in Montreal. To be continued...