Photo on social media appears to confirm what we were all suspecting; Carey Price's career is likely over
The Montreal Canadiens have undergone a significant transformation over the last few seasons, with Shea Weber having been forced into early retirement due to injury and sent off to Las Vegas, Jeff Petry having been shipped off to Pittsburgh and Artturi Lehkonen having been dealt to the 2022 Stanley Cup-winning Colorado Avalanche and now.
Tyler Toffoli, Alexander Romanov and Ben Chiarot are also gone, but the Habs have brought in a bevy of new faces, including Kirby Dach, Evgenii Dadonov, Sean Monahan, Christian Dvorak and Michael Matheson, just to name a few. They also have a number of rookies who are expected to be in their lineup to start the season in 2022 1st overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky, as well as Kaiden Guhle, Jordan Harris and Arber Xhekaj.
The biggest transformation of all (at least arguably) is the shift in goal, as Habs GM Kent Hughes confirmed this summer that Carey Price would not play in 2022-23, which very likely signals the end of his NHL career. The 35-year-old still has 4 seasons left on his mega-deal, which contains a $10.5M AAV, but has dealt with significant injury issues in recent years and had spent a good chunk of time in the NHL's player assistance program as well, to deal with a substance abuse problem. But while Price still has multiple years remaining on his deal, a social media photo posted by the Habs on Monday could indicate that his time with the Habs is officially over.
Per Habs correspondent Richard Labbe, the Habs have assigned Price's locker room stall at the Bell Centre to backup goaltender Samuel Montembeault. Labbe shared a photo of Montembeault's gear residing in Price's former stall with the text "This place was that of Carey Price. The page is turned."
Price was never going to play forever. We knew the end was coming for him in Montreal. Most thought it was coming during the expansion draft, when the Habs left Price unprotected. However, the uncertainty surrounding his knee injury and whether or not he would play during Seattle's inaugural season caused the Kraken to pivot and select defenseman Cale Fleury from the Habs instead. Of course, Price's lofty cap hit may have also had something to do with their decision.
If this truly is the end for Price, he had one hell of a career, which included a Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 2020-21 and two Eastern Conference Finals appearances in 2010 and 2014. He also won the Hart, Jennings and Vezina Trophies during the 2014-15 season, as well as the Lester B. Pearson award (since re-named the Ted Lindsay Award) in that same season. He's a sure-fire Hall-of-Famer and although he didn't win a Stanley Cup, he'll always be remembered as one of the best goaltenders of his era, potentially behind only Henrik Lundqvist, who also never won a Cup during his illustrious career.
| POLL | ||
11 OCTOBRE | 269 ANSWERS Photo on social media appears to confirm what we were all suspecting; Carey Price's career is likely over Should Carey Price be a Hall-of-Famer? | ||
| Yes, without question | 175 | 65.1 % |
| No, he didn't do enough in his career | 94 | 34.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
