Montreal Canadiens GM Kent Hughes has shown himself to be a fantastic negotiator throughout his career as an agent, and he's done the same on the other side of the fence since being hired by the NHL's most storied franchise.

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A shrewd businessman, he came in and took stock of his roster, identifying Nick Suzuki as his centerpiece before proceeding to sign his other potential core pieces but without giving them more money than his captain, be it on show-me deals like Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook's pacts or on long-term welcome to the core deals (see Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky's contracts).

After setting up his salary structure up front, Hughes also proceeded to do just the same with his young blueline. As his defense corps matured, three players were eligible for extensions this Summer. He gave Arber Xhekaj and Justin Barron team-friendly contracts to allow them to convince him they should be part of the future. They have two years to do so, and Xhekaj will do it with a $1.3 M cap, while Barron will do it on a $1.15 M a year salary.

Last December, he also extended goaltender Samuel Montembeault, inking the 27-year-old to a three-year deal worth $3,150,000 M per. That's a reasonable cap hit, especially if Wednesday's performance is indicative of what's to come. As for Cayden Primeau, this is a contract year for him; next Summer, he'll be an RFA. He hasn't shown enough yet to hope to really cash in.

Still, in three short years, Montembeault's contract will be up, and the Canadiens should be more than in the mix by then. They should be ready to really compete. Who will be in the net by then? Your guess is as good as mine, but Hughes will have to do some planning ahead.

Related: Canadiens: Montembeault Will Be Ready to Go

The Boston Bruins had a great goaltending duo last season with Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark, but they knew they could only afford to keep one of them. As a result, they dealt the latter to the Ottawa Senators and started complex negotiations with the former's agent. Things got messy. Cam Neely tried to put pressure on the keeper by making numbers public, but it turned out those numbers weren't the right ones. In the end, that probably explains the $250,000 extra dollars the Alaska native got.

Days after Swayman broke the bank with his $8,250,000 M cap hit, Ullmark inked a four-year pact with his new team for the exact same amount. That is a big chunk of change. Hours later, news leaked that Igor Shesterkin had refused a contract extension, which came with an $11 M cap. Murray Pam states his asking price is reportedly $12 M a year.

The moral of the story? Good goaltending isn't cheap. It doesn't matter if you drafted your netminder or got him in a trade or free agency; quality means big money. There's a balance to be struck, though. Marc Bergevin got burned in the Carey Price contract extension.

Yes, Price was amazing, but Bergevin gave him so much money that he couldn't get him any supporting cast upfront. The former GM had built his team from the net out. You have to play the cards you are dealt at the end of the day, but you have to remember there are more cards coming as you build the intricate puzzle that is a team's roster and salary breakdown.

The goaltending legend inked his eight-year deal in 2017. Seven years later, he's still the best-paid goaltender out there with his $10.5 M cap hit, half a million more than reigning cup champion Sergei Bobrovsky. It's astonishing that seven years on, Price is still the highest earner. Sure, the pandemic stopped the salary cap climb in its tracks, but this is where Hughes has to be prudent.

Related: Canadiens: What to Expect From Cayden Primeau

He's got to save some cap room for THE goaltender he believes could take his team to the promised land. It's too early to say if that could be Montembeault, Primeau, Fowler, or even someone else, but there's no winning without goaltending. Whichever way you choose to build your team, there's got to be enough money to have a complete roster and not just a Core Fore that can put pucks in the net (not on Wednesday night, but you get what I mean), but not stop them from getting in their own net.

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