The 5 worst Canadiens contracts for the 2026-27 season – Hockey Writers – Montreal Canadiens

Seeing as the Montreal Canadiens saved salary when they traded Brendan Gallagher to the Vancouver Canucks, he may technically be eligible for consideration on this list of the Habs’ worst contracts for 2026-27. He would at least be a candidate, based on how he’s found himself at the top (or more accurately the bottom) of the same list over the past few seasons.

That’s not at all against him, as one needs to have a bad contract, even in a salary situation as good as one will find in the NHL. Furthermore, with each passing season since Gallagher signed his six-year, $39 million contract through 2021, it has become less of a burden. Now, with one season left in it, he wouldn’t be much of a shoo-in, at least not at the top level. Here’s how the top (low) five really rocked:

Noah Dobson ($9.5 million)

If any New York Islanders fans are reading this, you can almost hear them salivating when they see defenseman Noah Dobson featured here. However, it comes with a caveat: The Canadiens got what they wanted when they traded two 2025 first-round picks and Emil Heineman to the Isles last summer for Dobson. In fact, they got exactly what they needed in a right defenseman who can eat up minutes and contribute on both ends of the ice.

And, if the Islanders for any reason want to be as successful as the Canadiens are paying Dobson an average annual value of $9.5 million for “just” 47 points (a Canadiens-defence-leading 12 goals), maybe they have a better fallback than that. While Dobson scored his career-high 70 points in 2023-24 while going on to lead the Isles in ice time (2:59 per game, which translated into 24 power play points, one off a team-best), the Habs played him a measly 1:31 per game in 2025-26, relying heavily on 3% of their success from seven players. That’s why they need him.

Instead, Dobson scored his most points at even strength (39), while only Matthew Barzal, Matthew Schaefer and Bo Horvat scored more for the Islanders. In fact, Dobson arrived as advertised, making his deal a necessary evil. Not bad at all, depending on where the market is headed. It’s just less than perfect. Also, for a team with big contracts that offer a lot of value, Dobson doesn’t fit this list at all, as the highest paid player on the team. So, “less than good” is all that is required of him to enter this instead.

Sorry, Islanders fans.

Mike Matheson ($6 million)

Like Dobson, defenseman Mike Matheson’s five-year, $30 million deal isn’t bad. It’s just not good. A few seasons after scoring a career-high 62 points in 2023-24, his production has taken a hit, not based on anything he’s done wrong. The emergence of Lane Hutson who has proven that he can do better than Matheson.

So, to some extent, Matheson was expendable, prompting speculation that he would be trade bait. Instead, the Canadiens re-signed him to his current contract at the beginning of last season, as he focused on the role of a shutdown specialist, he ended up leading all players in the entire NHL in short time on ice per game (3:56).

While that is impressive, the team’s penalty kill was 78.2%. In 2024-25, when he played 3:28 per game at shortstop, it was slightly better (80.9%), but it’s hard to look at Matheson and see a stay-at-home specialist when it’s clear his strengths lie in driving plays on the other end. And it’s hard to look at the 37 points he scored and see the offense he provides is worth $6 million per season. Granted, that’s not the point since he contributes on both ends of the ice, but you’d rather see him excel at one thing than be good at both.

Josh Anderson and Phillip Danault ($5.5 million)

If you had to rank one of Josh Anderson and Phillip Danault ahead of the other in terms of organizational value, you’d probably give Anderson the edge based on his speed, physicality and leadership. However, it is important to note that, as a center, especially with high-level defensive skills and the ability to tackle problems, Danault finally steadied the team in his recovery in the middle of the regular season.

So, it’s far from clear, especially if they have similar cap hits and one-year terms left on their contracts. Neither player would the Canadiens want to trade, but they would be hesitant to re-sign especially for their current hits, but that’s true of any high-value trade deadline acquisition. And, as the Habs head into a season where they may have Stanley Cup aspirations, it’s important to examine Anderson and Danault’s individual contributions through that lens. They are still valuable, which makes it clear how few bad contracts the Habs have on their roster. In fact, (probably) just one.

Sam Montembeault ($3.15 million)

From 2025-26, goalkeeper Sam Montembeault appeared to have a good contract. He seemed to have made a name for himself as No. 1 team last season on the strength of a 31-24-7 record and impressive stats, all of which contributed to Team Canada qualifying for the 4 Nations Face-Off. Unfortunately, the 29-year-old’s game has been on a steep decline.

In 2025-26, Montembeault went 10-8-4 with a 3.43 goals-against average and a .872 save percentage. Although he earned the honor of being Canada’s third-string goaltender last season, he was relegated to third string on his team, behind play-off starter Jakub Dobes and backup Jacob Fowler.

Montembeault is proof that anything can happen for better or worse. So, it’s not entirely a bad thing that the Canadiens have three NHL-caliber goaltenders on their roster in case of injury, and it’s not like the Habs are severely handicapped by a reasonable cap hit that was once seen as a huge benefit. It has moved on to this period, pointing to the situation in which he was traded, similar to Gallagher’s.

That was probably what was best for Gallagher. The same could happen to Montembeault, as he looks to build himself up. For a team coming out of a rebuilding phase, Montembeault, who was rightfully seen as the interim starter after Carey Price left, is no longer a good fit, even with just one year left. That doesn’t make his contract bad, it’s just bad for the Canadiens.