Nobody was shocked Friday afternoon when the Montreal Canadiens announced they had traded Carey Price’s contract and a fifth-round pick to the San Jose Sharks for right-shot defenseman Gannon Laroque. Price was expected to move after the final signing bonus of his eight-year, $10.5 M AAV contract was paid off on September 1.
Despite GM Kent Hughes saying the Habs didn’t need to trade the winningest goaltender in franchise history, it was only a matter of time before he pulled the trigger. The Canadiens had to get compliant before the start of the season, and while putting the netminder on LTIR would have done the trick, it wouldn’t have been excellent cap management.
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By getting rid of the legendary goaltender’s contract, Hughes gave himself some room under the cap, the Canadiens now have just over $4.5 M to spend. Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they will, but they do have the option.
The Habs brass made no secret of the fact that they would have liked to find a second-line center on the trade market this offseason, and obviously, it didn’t happen. As we’ve heard so many times in the Marc Bergevin era, trading for a center is hard. Hughes has done it a few times already, acquiring Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook, but neither has panned out at a pivot yet.
The truth of the matter is, they will not get an impact second-line center with that kind of cap hit. In fact, former Hab Christian Dvorak had a $4.45 M cap hit, and he was never a second-line center for Montreal. Of course, if they find a trade partner who’s looking for wingers or defensemen, a trade could be done that would result in having more cap to dedicate to the center.
It’s impossible not to state at this point that Mason McTavish remains unsigned in Anaheim, and if the situation carries on for much longer, perhaps Ducks GM Pat Verbeek will be looking for a trade partner.
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