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Paul Byron Extended 4 More Years @ $3.4 Million + Camp Showing Positives |
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Paul Byron Extended 4 More Years @ $3.4 Million
The Canadiens have had a summer of change heading into these first couple days of fall but they made sure one guy was staying put for the foreseeable future. The Canadiens announced that they signed Paul Byron to a 4 year extension worth $3.4 million per year.
A fantastic value signing for one of the best waiver wire pick ups in recent memory.
Byron is coming of his second straight 20 goal season (35 pts) after scoring 22 one season prior (43 pts) and all with minimal PP time and a regular shift on the PK.
Pretty impressive numbers for the 5’9”, 29 year old LW who’s grit and determination have made him a fan favorite. The contract will take him until he’s 34 years old and thankfully for Canadiens fans he doesn’t seem to be slowing down.
Speed is the name of Byron’s game and with solid hockey sense he figures to be a very useful player in the Canadiens organization for the next 5 seasons.
The $3.4 million dollar cap hit is very solid for the Habs as well and represents 4% of the current $79.5 million dollar cap, but that number is likely to increase next season when this contract comes into effect, so it’s likely to be under 4% of the total cap. Not too shabby for a 20 goal penalty killer with amazing speed and a great team player attitude.
Byron impresses not only in the goals for department but is solid in advanced stats as well. His CF% and FF% in last years cursed season was an identical 50.7 to go along with a 98.6 PDO. We all know the Habs struggled terribly and to see certain players actually finish with some decent stats is a small miracle, no pun intended.
By comparison, in Byron’s previous 22 goal season his CF% was 53.9% and his FF% was 52.9 with a 103 PDO. Byron’s will, determination, and skill prove to make him a quality NHL player.
I look forward to watching this team player for the next 5 seasons.
CAMP SHOWING MANY POSITIVES MOVING FORWARD
As far as camp goes, so far so good as the Habs sent some pretty good players back home recently only to see them immediately succeed. The players that remain are also very deserving as some young guns try to earn their 9 game cup of coffee in The Show.
This camps focus isn’t really shining the brightest light on the green players though, it’s the vets and new additions that are making even the most pessimistic raise an eyebrow. Jonathan Drouin has looked like a demon unleashed on the wing and is creating everywhere. I’m certain the staff will be advising him to shoot more as well and when he does he may be the most electrifying forward we have seen since Kovalev on his good days.
I’ve criticized Tatar a lot even before he became a Hab but his chemistry on the second line with Danault and Gallagher is worth eating some crow for at this point. This trio has been really good so far in the preseason for the Canadiens with all 3 players looking like they’re out to prove something.
We also must acknowledge that the Canadiens depth on defense looks better by the game with Mete, Juulsen, and Reilly injecting speed and skill from the back end. These three (and as well Brook before being sent back to Jr with a brand new 3 year ELC) are making Benn and Schlemko look out of date. Their speed, awareness, and transitions at this stage of their careers show me fantastic potential. Should this carry forward to the season and have a positive trajectory then the Habs may not be the gong show the Toronto Sports Networks think they will be.
Adding to all of this is Peca showing he has what it takes to play this year with speed and skill with Kotkaniemi and Suzuki waiting in the (Center) wings (With Poehling, Olofsson, Hillis and Fonstad).
All in all, a great offseason of change is yielding some positives on the ice. Even Julien seems pretty optimistic at this point. So I’m going to roll with that right now. Things looking up, Price playing well, everything moving forward. It would be pretty awesome if Weber healed up early and made it back by the end of October too, but that might be too optimistic even for me…
Go Habs Go!
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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