Love this

Leafs paid a first to get rid of marleau who had 1 yr at 6.25mill... 6 years at 6.5 for price is obviously not that much but not that far off

avs accept in a heartbeat. so does MTL

Habs fans are going to be so upset with this. Haha can’t wait to read the upcoming comments

The only people who would disagree with you is the entire NHLPA, NHL executives and hockey experts but ya I get it

He's league average this season. It's not like Schneider where his game just dropped off and doesn't look like it's coming back. Terrible contract for sure, but one would guess that they keep it and make the best effort possible to make better decisions moving forward. No point in throwing away resources when they're so far from being competitive just to alleviate cap space.

That is stupid.

Not that much, but yeah I agree that without a bad contract moving Habs way there's no chance MTL is going to gain positive value. Price has been way too mediocre to earn $10M+ each year.

You forgot to mention the statisticians who can't seem to get him out of the top tier in almost every category. Here's what the field looks like for goalies who have played more than 40 games (oh yeah, Price has played the most games of any NHL goalie this year ... again).

http://www.nhl.com/stats/goalies?reportType=season&seasonFrom=20192020&seasonTo=20192020&gameType=2&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,1&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,40&sort=gamesPlayed&page=0&pageSize=50

No team is going to retain 4 million for 6 years. Just forget about that.

No dog in this fight but are you suggesting that games played is a top measuring tool for how good a goalie is playing.

It's really really not. The Habs were $9M off the cap this year (seems nobody wants Molson's money) and next year, the cap will jump another $2M. Now, assuming Domi and Mete get signed, that's probably another $2.5M and $1.25M to each of them. By the time the Habs hit "cap armageddon" (Gallagher (+$4M), Danault (+$3M), Petry (+$2M), Tatar (+$1.5M) Kotkeniemi (+??M)), the cap will have climbed another $2M, and expansion will likely have taken at least one of those above-mentioned players.

If there were UFAs busting down the doors to come to Montreal, the Price contract might be a problem. But as that has never been a problem (thank you governments of Canada and Quebec), the Habs can afford Price's contract just fine.

Yeah Price's contract cap-wise don't bring a problem for MTL at the moment, but that was not the point.

The point was that if Habs want to get rid of that contract and get a cheaper goalie, it's going to cost them...

I'm suggesting that when you've played THE MOST games of any NHL goalie and your stats are among the best in terms of wins (4th in the league), GAA (4th) and SV% (6th), you're more than earning your keep.

He’s 21st in gaa and 23rd in sa%?

Habs don't WANT to get rid of Price or his contract. They MIGHT want to take a superb asset and sell him to a team that can make better use of his stellar abilities -- and is willing to pay a meaningful price in future NHLers to make it happen. There are at least 3-4 teams that are playoff locks for whom Price would be a difference maker in taking a serious run at the Cup or quietly disappearing after a round or two. COL is an obvious one, as is VAN. As of last night, CAR could sure use him too.

Not among goalies who have played more than 40 games. Any backup can have prettier numbers.

Exactly how Price is so much above their current goaltending?
Granted he WAS good, but I haven't seen a playoff performance out of him since 2017, and since then he's more or less been declining.

Bro there are only 13 goalies that have played 40 games or more. That’s not a true complete picture that’s being selective.

That is exactly the point. What part of "work horse" don't you get? Seriously, haters gotta hate but cut the crap about Price being anything but a premier goalie in the league.

Not as much as you think. Since those last playoffs in 2017, he has had 37, 16 (injured), 35, and so far 26 wins this year, with 19 games to go. Assume he wins half of those and he's a 35 again. If you cut out just the 6 back-to-back games he had to play this year, he'd probably have close to the same number of wins and a lower GAA and Sv%.

Granted he is STILL REALLY REALLY good.

He isn’t premier anymore, especially with that contract. He is 25yh in GAA amongst goalies starting 10 or more, 27th in SV% with at least 10 starts. And at $10.5M AAV and the highest paid goalie in the NHL you should be no worse than top 5 in those categories. I’ve got no problem with him as a player except his contract which is god awful.

Knock yourself out. You start your rookies. I'll keep the guy who the vast majority of NHL players and coaches said they'd choose to have in net for a 7th game.

Also, the contract is meaningless to a team that is 6th from the bottom in cap spending.

Won’t be starting a rookie in the playoffs, be starting a guy w/more playoffs wins in the last 3 yrs than him. And for his greatness how man series win does he have in his career? You can phish phish his contract all you want but when guys like Rask, Bishop, Holtby, Fleury, Crawford and Binnington have had significantly more success at a lot less $ the contract does matter especially if you have Superstars that are going to need to be paid.

I've never posted a "trade Price" idea. I'm happy with him. Bergevin just needs to find someone who can take 25 to 30 games and win more than a few of them. Habs haven't had that since Halak got packed off.