Former Montreal Canadiens superstar goalie Carey Price earned his $5.5 million signing bonus on Monday. During the NHL season, he will earn a $2 million salary, while his cap hit will be $10.5 million.
That is a significant amount of cap space being allocated to a goaltender who is already retired and is a lock to be inducted into the Hall of Fame (it was shocking that he didn’t get in with this most recent ballot, his first eligible year).
For the Canadiens, a franchise looking to build on their shocking playoff appearance in 2024-25, they might want that extra $10.5 million in cap space. Trading Price’s contract away is something that they will be looking to do so that they can make subsequent moves.
The Chicago Blackhawks, along with a couple of other teams well below the cap, are the candidates to take on this type of contract.
The Blackhawks may want to trade away a handful of veterans at the trade deadline to acquire assets that will benefit them in the future. It may be hard to do that if they are in danger of falling below the NHL’s cap floor of $70.6 million. They are roughly $6 million over the floor right now, and about $18 million below the cap.
Taking on Price doesn’t even bring them close to the salary cap, and it will keep them above the floor if they trade away pieces down the road.
Usually, the team taking on the bad contract gets assets with it. For example, a good prospect or draft pick will likely come to Chicago as a sweetener to help Montreal offload Price’s contract.
Kyle Davidson has not been shy about doing the things that are considered typical for rebuilding teams. Although they will likely be more entertaining in 2025-26, the Blackhawks are not going to win enough games to be playoff contenders. That makes them the perfect candidate to get Price on their books to make the team better in the future.
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