The Montreal Canadiens have signed 25 year old forward Michael Pezzetta to a two year contract extension the club announced.
The former 6th round pick suited up for a career high 63 games for the Habs in 2022-23 registering 15pts (7G, 8A) while primarily playing a 4th line role. The Toronto native led the team in hits and penalty minutes with 239 and 77 respectively.
Coming in at an AAV of $812,500, Pezzetta will be under team control through the 2024-25 season after signing a 2 year deal with the club.
Canadiens GM Kent Hughes also revealed that he will be on a one-way contract for the upcoming season as Montreal hopes that his physical presence will be a benefit on the young Habs roster.
Speaking to the Montreal Gazette back in April, Pezzetta remarked “I can play in the NHL. I’m the only one [in Montreal] that plays this style of game. I play hard, physical, just high energy. I think you need that on a team. You don’t need five guys like that, but every team needs a guy or two like that. I’ve shown I can do that. I’ve shown I can make plays. I’ve gotten better every year.”
Evidently the front office agreed with that assessment of his game as the former Sudbury Wolves forward will now have some assurances on his standing in the organization heading into the summer.
In 114 career NHL games Pezzetta has recorded 12G, 14A and 158PIMS.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: Ken Lund. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.