Thursday Habs Headlines: Kaiden Guhle’s agent sought a bigger extension

Montreal Canadiens news and notes

• Kaiden Guhle’s contract hit a sweet spot between being a safe bet and a smart one. [Sportsnet]
• Longer-term deals are becoming more common for top-end defencemen at the end of their ELCs. [TSN]
• Guhle’s agent tried to get the same 8 x $8 million that Jake Sanderson received in Ottawa, but Kent Hughes wouldn’t oblige. [TVA Sports]
• Guhle discussed what the contract means for him:

• Five of Guhle’s best moments. [TVA Sports]
• The Canadiens are on track to have a lot of salary-cao space open up for 2025-26. [The Athletic]
• Logan Sawyer will not return to the BCHL, but begin his NCAA career instead:

Montreal 3rd rounder Logan Sawyer, who'd been expected to play another year of juniors, instead will start NCAA career at Providence College in '24-25

Has been on campus and skating with some of his new teammates in recent weeks

'06 had 78 pts in 59 games for Brooks Bandits

— Mark Divver (@MarkDivver) August 1, 2024

• Looking back at the first-round draft history of the Canadiens. [Journal de Montreal]

Around the league and elsewhere

• Aleksander Barkov shared his Stanley Cup win with the next generation of Finnish hockey players:

Aleksander Barkov ja Stanley Cup ovat saapuneet Nokia Arenaan 🏆

Sashan toiveesta ensimmäisenä ohjelmassa yhteiskuvat jokaisen Tapparan juniorijoukkueen kanssa 💙🧡#Tappara #NHLfi pic.twitter.com/AZ4XWaTxlP

— Tappara Tampere (@Tapparaofficial) July 31, 2024

• Conversations with more top prospects at the World Junior Summer Showcase. [NHL.com]
• Bruce Cassidy, Peter DeBoer, Rick Tocchet, and Misha Donskov join Jon Cooper’s 4 Nations Face-Off coaching staff. [TSN]
• As expected, Evgeny Kuznetsov has joined SKA Saint Petersburg, signing a four-year contract. [TSN]