Canadiens sign Newhook to deal that sets him up for success

MONTREAL — Alex Newhook got good advice.

He was a restricted free agent acquired by the Montreal Canadiens for a package of good picks and a prospect, and he easily could’ve used the opportunity he was being given to bet on himself on a shorter-term deal than the four-year, $11.6-million contract he snatched up on Tuesday. The former Stanley Cup champion could’ve looked up and down the Canadiens’ lineup, slotted himself into their top-six and onto their power play, and figured he’d be immediately well-positioned to take the 159 games of NHL experience he gained with the Colorado Avalanche and leverage it into the type of success he (and they) felt he was likely to have when he was drafted 16th overall in 2019.

With that would come bigger bucks, especially with the salary cap expected to rise by as much as $4.5 million in 2024 and continue rising incrementally thereafter. It would just have to all go smoothly … in a new city … with a new team … with new teammates … and with a coach he’s never played for.

But someone convinced Newhook he didn’t need to be under that type of pressure in a market that can be white hot on even the coldest of days, and they were right to do so.

If it wasn’t Newhook’s agent, Paul Capizzano, at Quartexx, it was probably a former agent from Quartexx.

Kent Hughes, who left the outfit in 2022 to become Canadiens GM, already had the template on hand. He had made a trade at last year’s draft for Kirby Dach, he had signed the former third-overall pick in 2019 to a four-year, $13.45-million contract weeks later, and then he had taken his front-row seat to Dach’s transition from underachieving player to blossoming player, so the sales pitch to Newhook was fully baked well before it was delivered.

That it landed is almost certainly going to benefit the Canadiens.

This deal will look fair for them all the way through, even if Newhook only marginally improves on the 27-goal, 66-point output he had with the Avalanche. It’s likely to look great if Newhook capitalizes on the security he’s been offered. And this deal puts Newhook in position to do exactly that.

The chance for him to play a bigger role in Montreal than he did for most of his time in Colorado is immediately there. The chance for him to play with a team in need of his speed and skill — and in a system that enables those assets to shine through — is at his feet. And the deal he’s been given affords him the time to properly acclimate and take advantage of those opportunities.

Again, that’s good for the Canadiens, but it’s especially valuable to a player who still has much to prove.

“I’m happy with it, obviously happy with the term,” Newhook said via Zoom hours after signing Tuesday. “Coming into a team and knowing that they want you to be there for four years at least is exciting and, obviously, the money’s good to have some security. I think four years is great and it gives me some time to grow and not be rushed into another deal and be comfortable in a city for at least four, so it’s really exciting.”

It should be.

Not a lot of players in Newhook’s situation — coming out of an entry-level contract having not exactly knocked it out of the park — get this type of term, and even less of them are presented with the type of ideal conditions he has in Montreal to substantially improve as he edges closer to the ultimate leverage position of being a year away from unrestricted free agency upon the expiration of his contract.

Maybe Newhook left some dollars on the table this time around. He probably did.

But based on what the five-foot-10, 190-pound centre has done so far, that’s a small concession for the type of opportunity he has and the term and security he’s been given.

Newhook talked on Tuesday about how much more comfortable he is playing 17, 18 minutes per game, and he’s going to get to do that a lot more with the rebuilding Canadiens than he did with the contending Avalanche. The 22-year-old also talked about how Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis assured him he wants him to play “free” and to his identity, and he expressed that he was relieved about shedding the shackles he wore as a 19-, 20- and 21-year-old expected to play mistake-free for a dominant Colorado team.

And while Newhook acknowledged the bitter taste of leaving the team that drafted him and groomed him into a champion, he embraced the sweetness of joining one that believes in him.

The St. John’s, N.L. native then talked about rewarding that faith.

“I think there’s still a lot of room for me to grow in a lot of different areas,” Newhook said. “I’ve been placed in different situations throughout my career to this point — I’ve played on the (penalty kill), on the power play, played up and down the lineup — and I think I can be a guy that plays up the lineup and brings a lot of skill and speed to the team and be able to produce as well as being responsible defensively … Just want to be a guy that can be relied upon offensively and defensively, and I think that’s what kind of player I can be in the league and on this team and I’m excited to start proving that.”

That he doesn’t have to sprint out of the gate to do it should only help.