Carey Price trade believed to be imminent.

It seems that the Montreal Canadiens are on the verge of a significant trade, and perhaps more than just one if the rumors around the National Hockey League are to be believed.

Sources are now reporting that the Canadiens are on the verge of making a trade involving goaltender Carey Price, or more specifically his massive contract. The first to break the news appears to have been TVA Sports Jean Charles Lajoie, who predicted on Saturday that Price's contract would be dealt sometime around September 1st, which is of course this coming Monday.

You can see Lajoie's comments just below, but be aware that they were made in French.

Price of course has not played in the National Hockey League for several years now with his most recent on-ice appearance having coming during the 2021-22 regular season in which he recorded an abysmal 3.63 goals against average and a .878 save percentage over just 5 total games that season.

So why would a team outside of Montreal be interested in acquiring Price's contract?

Price is entering the final year of an 8 year deal he signed with the Canadiens, and has just recently received the massive signing bonus of $5.5 million that he was set to earn this season. This is why there has been no better time to make this trade, given that it would allow teams to add to their salary cap without having to pay out nearly as much in terms of real money. Price has a cap hit of $10.5 million this season but is only owed $2 million in actually salary which would make him an extremely attractive asset to teams trying to reach the cap floor.

Team like the Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks are all dangerously close to the salary cap floor and adding Price's contract to their roster this season could make it significantly easier to make trades during the season.

As for the Canadiens there have been some rumblings that this first trade would only be the precursor for a much more important second trade, but those are only rumblings at this time with no solid sources stepping up to suggest what that trade could look like.

Stay tuned for more on this developing story.