The Montreal Canadiens enter this offseason in much the same way they entered the last offseason, just a bit later.They could probably use a right-shot defenceman, again. They will be on the lookout for help at forward, more specifically, a second-line centre, again. And their most important agenda item is extending the contract of a rookie phenom, again.A year ago, around this time, we were attempting to calculate what Lane Hutson’s next contract with the Canadiens would look like, because that was the most pressing matter of their upcoming offseason.We looked at comparable young offensive defencemen, the percentage of the salary cap those players’ second contracts took up, the history of the Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes administration — lots of things.Ultimately, we came to the conclusion that if Hutson were to sign a long-term extension last summer, the floor was probably somewhere around $9.5 million. As it turns out, that is the exact contract the Canadiens signed Noah Dobson to after acquiring him from the New York Islanders less than a month later, and in so doing, established somewhat of a ceiling for Hutson rather than the floor we thought that number to be.Why? Because Dobson’s status as a player closer to unrestricted free agency with a much longer NHL track record, and more projectability as a result, gave him much more negotiating leverage than Hutson, who had essentially none other than what he had just shown in his rookie season.Of course, that rookie season was very impressive, with him winning the Calder Trophy and leading NHL rookies in scoring with 66 points. So it’s not as if Hutson had no leverage.But the reality is the Canadiens could simply wait a year if they couldn’t come to terms with Hutson, and that was something Hughes made a point of mentioning at his season-ending news conference a year ago, noting they had waited until the end of Cole Caufield’s entry-level contract before extending him.All of this is relevant one year later because electric rookie winger Ivan Demidov now finds himself in nearly the same position as Hutson a year ago, with the lone exception being that Demidov finished second in Calder voting this season. And how the Hutson negotiations unfolded and finished should probably serve as more of a guidepost than any player comparables that might be out there in the NHL.Because the Canadiens have made it very clear they don’t care about comparables and percentage of the cap and all the things agents are paid handsomely to care deeply about.And looking back on it, the fact Hughes said at the end of last season that the Canadiens could potentially wait a year before signing Hutson’s next contract was prescient, because waiting is what ultimately got the contract done. The negotiations spilled into the regular season, Hutson’s play was affected, there was a ton of noise around him and he ultimately stepped in and made sure the contract got signed so he could put it behind him.The number for Hutson landed at $8.85 million per year for eight years, well under Dobson’s deal, a contract that will kick in on July 1 and bring Hutson a signing bonus of $11 million right off the bat. Hutson built on his rookie season this year and finished sixth in Norris Trophy voting, but he has zero regrets for how that contract turned out, no matter how much money he might have left on the table.“I wouldn’t change a thing, honestly,” Hutson said Monday. “So fortunate that I was able to lock that up for a long time and be here. To be that close (to a championship) and that far at the same time is a great thing. It makes me more hungry and everyone just a bit hungrier to get back there and prove ourselves.”No one is closer to Demidov than Hutson. They talk a lot. And the subject of Demidov’s upcoming contract negotiations has come up.