Ivan Provorov’s huge contract: Mike Matheson’s value increased today

The NHL free-agent market opens tomorrow at noon...

but for the past few hours, the league has been abuzz with activity.

Mitch Marner, Aaron Ekblad and Brad Marchand have all signed new contracts, so there wont be much left tomorrow.

Therell be Nikolaj Ehlers, Brock Boeser...

and Jonathan Drouin, of all people.

And on top of all that, another big name decided to stay with his team today: defenseman Ivan Provorov signed a seven-year deal to stay in Columbus.

At $8.5 million, its a shocking annual salary...

but youd think the club would have dipped into the money it wanted to give Noah Dobson to retain the services of a guy whos doing a great job in town.

CBJ and pending UFA Ivan Provorov are finalizing a 7-year contract at $8.5M AAV per season Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) June 30, 2025 With Provorov off the market tomorrow, that leaves Vladislav Gavrikov as the only big name on the blue line to test the market.

Expect a number of teams to be eyeing him...

and for him to sign a monstrous contract.

That said, only one team will be able to get their hands on Gavrikov.

So, if a team misses out, theyll have to turn to the trade market for help on the blue line.

And thats where Mike Matheson comes in.

With Provorov signing today, the Habs are gaining more and more leverage in the event they want to trade their defenseman.

We know that Montreals blue line is getting pretty congested with the arrival of Noah Dobson, and with a year to go before the Habs become independent, trading Matheson becomes an option to consider.

Lane Hutson and Kaiden Guhle should be in town for a very long time, so the left side of the top-4 is set for the long term.

And the more demand there is for top-4 defensemen across the league, the more the Habs have to consider this possibility.

Mike Matheson at $4.875 million for one year could help out a lot of teams that dont like whats available on the market.

Thats assuming those teams arent on the list of eight teams Matheson doesnt want to be traded to...

but there may well be a way to do it.

To be continued.

In Overtime Brad Marchands contract details.

On Marchand 6-year contract: Front-loaded with $1M in base salary each season and the rest in signing bonus.

AAV is $5.25M.

NMC clause first four seasons and then two seasons with partial no trade.

https://t.co/GswR0McgKV Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) June 30, 2025 Not a bad deal.

Vegas Golden Knights lines with Mitch Marner: Dorofeyev-Eichel-Marner Barbashev-Hertl-Stone Smith-Karlsson-Kolesar Saad-Howden-Holtz Theodore-Mcnabb Hanifin-Whitecloud Lauzon-Korczak Hill Schmid 2026 Cup Champs? pic.twitter.com/8fnBPXGNYu Big Head Hockey (@BigHeadHcky) June 30, 2025 If a team wants to make it to the finals, they know what to do, hehe.

Pierre LeBrun: All signs point to Corey Perry going to market The Athletic NHL Rumour Report (@NHLRumourReport) June 30, 2025 This article first appeared on Dose.ca and was syndicated with permission..

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