Canadiens Analysis
Carey Price Trade Leads To Opportunities For Canadiens
Now that the Montreal Canadiens have traded longtime goaltender Carey Price to the San Jose Sharks, it’s time to take a look at the impact of the deal, particularly from a financial standpoint.
Before we get going, it’s crucial to note that Price became one of the most popular players in recent Canadiens history because he gave fans a reason to hope for a better tomorrow. After dragging the team to the Stanley Cup final in 2021, Price’s knees simply would not allow him to move forward, connoting that he literally put his body on the line for a chance at success.
Anyone who paid attention can confirm it was the driving force behind Price’s well-deserved Masterton Trophy win in 2021-22.
The Salary Cap Angle
The first thing that stands out from the trade is that Kent Hughes did not have to pay an arm and a leg to unload the deal via the Sharks, as some suggested would be necessary.
A fifth-round pick holds little to no value in the grand scheme of things.
As for the return, the Sharks had very few contract spots available, which is why they shipped Gannon Laroque to Montreal in the deal.
The deal also means that the Canadiens no longer have to tip-toe around the long-term injured reserve dilemma. If they had kept Price in the mix, the cap space would not have accrued, which would have limited the options to improve the lineup, an important goal for a team looking to maintain their upward trajectory after a surprise appearance in the playoffs.
Now that Price has been traded, the Habs went from being a few million over the max salary cap, to about five million under, which means they should have the funds necessary to pull off a trade that would improve their team.
If they simply sit on the cap space, it would allow them to absorb over $20 million in cap hits at the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline.
It also means they won’t have to pinch every penny going forward, with important players heading to the AHL to save a few dollars when needed. This ensures the players who are not waiver eligible will have fewer disturbances in their development.
All things considered, even if the notion of trading a player of Price’s popularity may have seemed daunting, the initial reaction to the trade should be nothing but positive.
Once again, Hughes, Jeff Gorton, John Sedgwick, and the rest of the Canadiens management group have pulled off a deal that should not only help them in the short term, but also be quite beneficial when it comes to taking the final step of their rebuild, which involves the Habs becoming a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
We’re not quite at that point yet, and it may take the Canadiens a few years to reach there, with the Price trade serving as a crucial stepping stone to accomplish their lofty goals.
I just hope the talk all doesn’t shift to us now running out and acquiring a 2C with the cap space. I think we just need to be patient and see how Dach and our own in-house options work out first. Now, if something great falls in our laps after training camps close, then I guess we can listen, but I’m more than willing to sit back and wait until later in the year, if at all.
I agree, patience is important, but if the iron’s hot, Hughes will strike. He’s been quite aggressive (yet logical) when attempting to improve the team.
For sure. I always have that clip in the back of my head where Gorton says if it were up to Hughes he’d be wheeling and dealing constantly and speeding up the rebuild, whereas Gorton is the voice of reason and reeling in the reigns. They make a great duo. Hughes gets all the glory, but I think Gorton should get a lot more credit too. I’d hate to see him get poached away from us. He really deserves some love from the media so he feels valued.
Theres a tight rope situation theyre now in. Zuki is in his prime(26 yrs old) and has a 5 yrs until he peaks and they still dont have a “reliable” 2C and Mason McTavish aka young top 6 centres dont come around often(as we seen in the Bergevin era). Holding back for a player that cant stay healthy avg’ing 45 games a season over 6 seasons and a faceoff % of 36.1% over those 6 yrs. He’s a stop gap not a bonafide 2C. If a 2C is too pricey, Dach fills a void but he is not reliable. If he sneezes the wrong way he could be out before the playoffs. If we play the assumption game on Dach, Zuki will be 28 before they contend and they’ll have a 3 yrs window putting all their cards on Hage to fill the gap as Zuki slides to 2C territory at 31. Dach has produced 62 points over 3 seasons, when does Dachs fragility become lack of accountability?
I’ve definitely made the same argument about not wasting the prime years of Suzuki and Caufield in the past too. I’m not saying we wait forever. I’m just saying let’s see how things play out at the beginning of the year and go from there. I believe Gorton and Hughes have also said similar things to date. If a trade happens, for me it needs to either be a quality stop gap guy with experience (especially on faceoffs) that doesn’t cost us too much, or a home run move that would justify blocking Hage. I have faith that Hage will be a really good player, and considering the assets we gave up to move up to get him, I think HuGo do as well.
A little panicked are we? Thankfully, the Habs aren’t the Sens or Sabres or other teams that quickly panic and make a knee jerk trade.
How do you know how many years Suzuki will have in his prime?
Players today take so much better care of themselves, Sid Crosby is still going strong!
And, just because Dach has been unfortunate on the injury front doesn’t mean it’s going to be like that forever, he’s 24 for God’s sake!
Besides, almost every team is looking for a 2C so the teams that have those players to give, are just WAITING for the PANICKED GM to overpay!
I think it’ll be an exciting season EVEN if Hughes DOESN’T make a move (I won’t say “we”! wink!).
If the Habs can be “in the mix” again in the Spring, who knows who’ll be available and what kind of Dobson/Balduc Hughes will make!
RELAX and ENJOY what should be an EXCITING season! GO HABS GO!
You nailed it. Patience is again the key, with Dach (just 24) and others. I feel confident the Habs will make some moves if the need or opportunities are there. Go Habs Go.
Lmfao, I guarantee you that Jeff Gorton could not care less what the media says about him. If he wanted to spotlight he could have it
When people (media) were talking about using a 2nd or even a first round pick to move Price’s contract I knew (believed strongly) that Hughes would not pay that price. Except for moving one contract off the books I really don’t see why San Jose did this. Again, I am impressed with Hughes. Now watch him sign Hutson for 8.5 million a year.
Yeah, I think when Lavoie mentioned that it might take a 2nd-round pick, most of us rolled our eyes. It wouldn’t have been a huge overpay or anything, but that’s simply not how Hughes operates.
As for San Jose, they can now trade some of their players at the deadline without having to worry about going under the cap floor. So, they paid a 5th-round pick to put a $10.5 million cap hit in place, for which they are only on the hook for $2M. And most of that $2M will be paid out by insurance.
Does Price count against the 50 rostered players limit for San Jose once he goes on injured reserve?
Yup.
So they don’t gain any roster space from the move, but they do dump a player that likely will never play another hockey game and get a pick and some flexibility for future trades out of the deal?
I don’t get the feeling that dumping end of the roster contracts is as difficult as Sharks fans make it sound provided the guy is actually healthy.
Sharks had 50 players under contract(the limit). Removing Laroque opened up a roster spot. For that the Sharks conceded less of a draft pick as both teams gave each other some roster relief. Sharks can make a move and Habs have cap flexibility. Otherwise it would be atleast a 3rd round pick demand, since no cash strapped team would take on extra cash when the owners are likely pinching pennies until that team is a contender
The Habs’ lineup is already set for the upcoming season, any tinkering done now will undo any future salary cap synchronicity. There are assets in place that can work by committee (if need be) to patch up any perceived weaknesses until the trade deadline to push for the playoffs. Less is more, there is no such thing as perfection.
I was surprised that a 5th was all it took for the deal to take place, especially given no teams needed anything like that to reach the Cap floor. The actual salary is only $2 million, which helped, but given how expensive it was to move such deals in the recent past, expecting it to cost more wasn’t at all unreasonable.
Sad to see Ken Dryden pass. I’ve often wondered how many Cups Montreal would’ve won had he played a more typical career. Beyond his very early retirement, he even took a year off to finish his law degree due to a contract dispute over money. Another few years and no sitting out and who can say?
Nobody is giving much detail on the prospect the Sharks paid, which makes me believe he’s not even a D prospect. No matter, the cap space is the true prize.
Now if Hughes can just find a way to get rid of Laine, that would be the best thing he did all summer. The 1 dimensional PP specialist was abysmal at 5 on 5, and what PP offence he provided dried up by mid January. I could go on for hours about this, and have, so I’ll just say this last thing. Getting rid of Laine is addition via subtraction.
And finally its done. Since the end of that covid cup season, both Price and Weber got injured for good at the same time. In a very good/weird way, thank goodness that happened. Both were on the downsides of their careers and would no way have been worth the huge cap hits they were occupying on the roster. They both actually did the Habs a HUGE favor by becoming LTIR candidates that fast. Without both of these occurring, the Habs would still be bottom dwellers – and for at least one more season.
Funny the way things work out sometimes…