Carey Price unexpectedly lands on the trade block!

Back in 2022, the Montreal Canadiens traded the remainder of defenseman Shea Weber’s contract to the Vegas Golden Knights for winger Evgenii Dadonov. Vegas then flipped it to the Arizona Coyotes (now the Utah Mammoth ) in 2023, who sent that contract to the Chicago Blackhawks at this year’s trade deadline. According to Marco D’Amico of Puck Pedia, the Habs may be ready to do the same with goalie Carey Price’s contract this summer.

As you may remember, a knee injury ended Price’s playing career in 2022. Since then, the Canadiens have placed him on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) to gain salary-cap relief.

However, the Habs could be facing a tricky cap situation next season, especially with promising young players like Lane Hutson and Ivan Demidov eligible for performance bonuses. If they hit those targets, the team could face a bonus overage penalty.

Price’s contract still has one year left, with a $10.5 million cap hit. In reality, though, he’ll only earn $7.5 million — including a $5.5 million signing bonus due on July 1.

That structure makes the contract a potential asset for a team looking to reach the salary-cap floor, and the Habs could find a suitor to take the rest of Price’s deal in their budget. D’Amico writes:

“With the Canadiens looking to take the next step in this rebuild, they’ll want to spend more than just $4-6M to improve the team, and the best way to do so is to convince a team looking to hit the salary cap floor to take on Price’s contract.

“Price’s contract is a big anchor for the Canadiens right now, and if they want to gain that full flexibility, they’ll be wise to move it,” said another NHL executive.”

In his contract, Price carries a full no-movement clause but he won’t block the Habs from a trade to relieve some cap. The $2 million base salary would make it quite affordable for any club out there hoping to keep their payrolls near the league minimum, like the Columbus Blue Jackets, Calgary Flames and Anaheim Ducks.