They will also have to open the vault for Hutson next year. It makes it tougher to sign Evans long term.
No it doesn't. Habs didn't even need Price's contract on LTIR to get under the cap to start the season.
Habs have more than enough room to sign Evans & Hutson and expiring contracts with a looming cap increase will keep the Habs well under the cap in the next 2/3 seasons. Maybe Demidov complicates it a bit but that is a few years away.
The same offseason Hutson's second contract will kick in are when the contracts of Laine, Dach, Matheson and Price expire. His next contract wont have any affect on an Evans extension.
100% agree. The only cap challenges I see is when both Laine and Demidov need new deals. By that time, players like Beck, Kapanen, Roy, Hage will need extensions as well (or close to that timing). By then, Anderson, Matheson, Gallagher are off the books.
If we add a UFA that is $8M+ in the next two seasons, then it might get tricky.