Forward Juraj Slafkovsky celebrated extra hard when he scored the last goal of the Montreal Canadiens’ 2023-24 season on Tuesday night.
Tipping in a Lane Hutson shot from the point, the 20-year-old winger became the third-youngest Canadiens player to ever net 20 goals in a single season. That milestone is worth more than just bragging rights, though.
As pointed out by PuckPedia, Slafkovsky had a clause in his entry-level contract that entitles him to a $250,000 bonus if he scored at least 20 goals on the season.
The #GoHabsGo Slafkovsky has 19 Goals. If he gets 20th in final game, he'll earn a $250K "A" Perf bonus. This is in addition to the $250K for TOI earned.
As #GOHabsGo are over cap due to LTIR, any bonuses earned will be overage cap hit next season.https://t.co/pmWdpSnLfZ
— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) April 16, 2024
That means Slafkovsky, who carries a $950,000 cap hit this season, will be getting a 29% raise in his annual salary for reaching the feat.
The Slovakia native, who capped his breakout season with 50 points in 82 games, was later asked about securing the payday by reporters in a postgame scrum.
“It’s expensive goal,” he said, laughing. “I mean, it’s pretty cool. I’m happy, I don’t know.”
One reporter wondered whether Salfkovsky was willing to give Hutson a “tip” for setting up the play. He seemed hesitant but proposed a compromise.
“I mean, he’ll probably get all of his bonuses next year so he’ll be fine,” he said. “We’ll figure something out.”
With that said, the rookie defenceman, who logged his second assist in his second career game, is open to it, later telling reporter Arpon Basu he’s willing to accept monetary compensation.
“Yeah, I told him, ‘I’ll give you my Venmo,'” Hutson said, jokingly.
Lane Hutson when asked whether he knew that goal he helped set up earned Juraj SlafkovskĆ½ a $250K bonus: "Yeah, I told him, 'I'll give you my Venmo.'"
— Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) April 17, 2024
While both Slafkovsky and Hutson are currently under entry-level rookie contracts, it’s safe to assume they’ll be earning plenty more dough in the years to come.
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