Victor Mete signed to one-year contract extension by the Montreal Canadiens

Before the Montreal Canadiens dipped their toes into the free-agent market on Friday, they took care of some business at home, signing restricted free agent Victor Mete to a one-year contract extension.

The deal comes in at just $735,000 for the year, making him one of the lowest-paid defenders in the organization, only above Noah Juulsen’s cap hit of $700,000.

With this deal, Mete is hoping to prove he has more value for his next contract. He made the jump to the NHL very early in his career, starting out at 19 in a top-pairing role. He’s slid down the lineup since as the Canadiens added defencemen, but still played a key role in last year’s post-season.

In 2019-20 he scored his first NHL goal, and went on to record four on the year. Showing more of an offensive game next year would go a long way to earning him a more substantial contract.

The Canadiens now have just two RFAs left on the board: Charles Hudon and Xavier Ouellet, to get under contract.