With his arbitration hearing scheduled for next week, there was a need to get a new deal done soon for Michael McNiven. That has now happened as the Habs have re-signed McNiven to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will pay $750,000 in the NHL, $100,000 in the AHL, and contains a guaranteed $110,000 salary, representing a $35,000 increase from last season.
The 24-year-old hasn’t seen much playing time over the last couple of seasons and played in just 13 games last year with Laval, posting a 2.59 GAA along with a .895 SV%. He’s likely to serve as Cayden Primeau’s backup again with the Rocket although veteran Kevin Poulin will be in the mix as well and is on an AHL contract.
Because McNiven filed for arbitration, the Habs will have a brief second buyout window at their disposal that will open up three days from now and will last for 48 hours. To be eligible to be bought out, a player must have been on the roster at the trade deadline and have a cap hit of $4 million or more. It’s unlikely that it will be used but it’s something to note for next week.
McNiven’s Stats: