Carey Price to pull a Roberto Luongo and land new job?!?
This could be what is best for the veteran goalie!
HockeyFeed
The road towards recovery has been a physical and a mental one for Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price, who has been away from the team and on the long-term injured reserve for the past year. The goalie entered the NHL’s player assistance program in October 2021 for alcohol-related issues and went he returned to the ice, his body could not keep up anymore. It’s been well-known around the league that despite the fact that he hasn’t retire, Price will not play in the NHL again.
However, Marc-Antoine Godin of The Athletic believes there is a new calling for Price and compares his potential future career to the one Roberto Luongo put together with the Florida Panthers back in 2020 when he created a goaltending excellence department.
That’s right : Price could pulled a Lou.
Luongo put a goaltending department in place in Florida - and do we need to mention the impact it has had on the Panthers and especially Sergei Bobrovsky? Godin believes the time is now for the Canadiens and Price to create such a department in Montreal as the rebuild is underway.
“The Canadiens have not yet put such a structure in place, but they have arrived at a moment in their rebuild where they need to add – whether that’s from the professional ranks or through the draft – a goalie they could see becoming their starter in the next five years.
[…]
The front office will make informed decisions as much as possible, but like the majority of NHL teams, the Canadiens would be in a better position if they had an expert on the position who can provide direction in goalie development.
That’s where Price could enter the picture and help the Canadiens in a new way. He is still under contract for three years, he will be paid that money no matter what happens, and the team can’t pay him another salary for doing another job. But there are no rules in place preventing an injured player from having another role on the team that is paying him.
“If he wants to fill a role similar to Luongo and have the feeling of working for his salary, Price would be the perfect candidate to get a project like this off the ground and continue thinking of goaltending at a high level.”
This all makes too much sense not to be considered by the Canadiens. Price is signed through 2025-26 in Montreal. In his entire career with the Habs, he has led Montreal to 361 wins, put up five seasons with a save percentage topping .920, posted 49 career shutouts. He was also awarded the Hart Trophy, Vezina Trophy, Ted Lindsay Award, William M. Jennings Trophy and, in 2021-22, he took home the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.
And he could do so much more for the goalies coming into the franchise. Make the move Canadiens!
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