The Montreal Canadiens have agreed to sign forward Paul Byron to four-year contract worth $13.6 million or $3.4 million per season. The contract runs until the end of the 2022-23 season.
The Canadiens have signed forward Paul Byron to a 4-year contract extension (AAV of $3.4M) through the 2022-23 season. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/WKcjND98cT
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) September 23, 2018
Montreal Canadiens Sign Paul Byron to Extension
Over his seven-year career, Byron has played for the Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames, and Montreal Canadiens. He has put up 70 goals and 74 assists for 144 points in his 363 career games. He was originally drafted in the sixth round, 179th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2007 NHL Draft.
He scored 20 goals and 15 assists for 35 points in 82 games this season. He also added 23 minutes in penalties. His possession numbers are 50.7 percent Corsi and a relative Corsi of +0.4. Those totals are slightly lower than the 2016-17 season where he scored 22 goals and 21 assists for 43 points.
What This Means for the Future
Byron is a short-handed specialist who also is among the top of the league in shooting percentage. He also played on the Canadiens power-play. He is a versatile player capable of playing all three forward positions, but best used as a middle-six winger. Byron is one of the fastest players in the NHL.
Byron had one year remaining on a three-year contract worth $3,500,000 ($1.16 million AAV). With this signing, Montreal wxtends one of the best waiver claims in NHL history. Since coming to Montreal he has 53 goals and 43 assists for 96 points in 225 games. He has also been a big part of Montreal’s penalty kill and power play. The Canadiens continue to get value out of the 28-year-old and keep him with the team. He was due to become an unrestricted free agent in 2019.
MONTREAL, QC – MARCH 02: Paul Byron #41 of the Montreal Canadiens skates the puck past Matt Irwin #52 of the Nashville Predators and ended up scoring the game-winning goal on goaltender Pekka Rinne #35 of the Nashville Predators late in the third period during the NHL match at the Bell Centre on March 2, 2017 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Nashville Predators 2-1. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
