One NHL team emerges in Carey Price trade rumors

This past weekend there were multiple online reports that Montreal Canadiens GM Kent Hughes is shopping the contract of goaltender Carey Price, in order to free up salary cap space for future roster moves.

Price, of course, hasn't played an NHL game in over three years but his $10.5 million annual salary is still on the books until next offseason. If Hughes could move the contract to another NHL team, he gains some significant flexibility to make moves for a team on the rise.

Habs insider Marco D'Amico reported on the potential trade earlier today and noted that the Pittsburgh Penguins could be a perfect fit:

"Another surprising team that was suggested in Carey Price talks is the Pittsburgh Penguins; although they are $12M above the salary cap floor... the Penguins could strip it down early and trade some vets."

To be fair, the Penguins are in desperate need of a rebuild but GM Kyle Dubas has been hesitant to make drastic changes in recent seasons. In my opinion though, now's the time to go full scale rebuild and gaining assets for taking on Price could help jumpstart their rebuild in earnest.

Read below for our earlier report on this developing story, published by Hockey Feed staff writer Jonathan Larrivee.

Given how loud the noise has been around the National Hockey League regarding a rumored trade involving Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price, it seems all but inevitable that the trade will happen.

Multiple sources have reported that a trade involving Price is expected this week, with September 1st being the key date that everyone is pointing to. That is because on September 1st, today at the time of this writing, Price will be paid the final signing bonus on the 8 year deal he signed with the Canadiens.

In spite of the fact that he has not played in several seasons, Price will receive a signing bonus of $5.5 million today. That bonus represents the vast majority of the money he is owned this season a total of $7.5 million, leaving only $2 million in salary to be paid out on his contract.

This now makes Price's contract an attractive option to teams looking to make sure they stay above the salary cap floor, with 3 teams named as rumored destinations for a trade of this nature. That is due to the simple fact that these teams could add a whopping $10.5 million to their cap hit, the average annual value of Price's current contract, while only needing to pay out $2 million in actual dollars.

The question that does remain here is whether or not the Canadiens will have to pay a premium in order to unload Price's contract before the start of the 2025-26 NHL regular season. The Canadiens are looking to shed cap space, which almost always requires giving up an asset in the form of a draft pick or prospect, but the unique structure of Price's contract in the final year of his deal could actually make it a valuable commodity to a number of team's around the league.

If I am being honest I do expect that the Canadiens will still have to give up something in this deal, but it may only end up being a late round pick because of the inherit value this contract provides to teams dangerously close to the salary cap floor. Having an additional $10.5 million on the cap could make it much easier to execute trades within the regular season without having to worry about shedding too much cap space in the process.

Do you think the Canadiens will have to pay a big price, pun intended, to move this contract? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.