by Andrew Saadalla, Guest Columnist, All Habs Hockey Magazine

MONTREAL, QC. — Montreal Canadiens fans should start mentally preparing themselves to say good-bye to franchise goaltender Carey Price. No, Price will not be dealt on the March first trade deadline. But, in my opinion, he could find greener pastures with another organization in the summer of 2018.

As the all-world goalie’s six-year, $39 million contract signed in 2012 is rapidly nearing its end, speculation regarding where his future may lie is brewing. Many are convinced that the Habs’ chances of winning a 25^th Stanley Cup fit within a two-year window, which coincides with the end of Price’s contract along with some of his “prime” years. He will turn 31 in the summer of 2018, and it’s hard to imagine that a player who has been a champion at every level he has ever played will continue to exercise the kind of patience that could be starting to wear thin for the superstar netminder.

Contractual issues, an injury-plagued career, and a tendency for Price to have to defend himself after getting run over by opponents regularly could signify that the man who has carried the Habs on his shoulders for several years might be wondering what life would be like away from the Montreal limelight and endless pressure.

Price’s achievements

Price has won championships with the Tri-City Americans and Hamilton Bulldogs while taking home top goaltender and most valuable player awards. The Anahim Lake, British Columbia native won silver medals twice as a junior with Team Canada, and three gold medals while representing his country in 2005 and 2007. Additionally he helped his team win at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

More recently, his undefeated streak during the 2016 World Cup of Hockey led Team Canada to a Cup championship. Moreover, Price has earned himself a myriad of All-Star selections from the junior levels all the way through to the recent National Hockey League celebrations.

Despite a relatively rocky start to his NHL career, Price earned high praise from teammates and coaches, along with managers and journalists alike. Most have dubbed him the “best goaltender in the world,” and how could they not?

2015 marked a tremendous year for Price as he swept the NHL awards. He became the first goalie ever to simultaneously take home the Vezina, Hart, Jennings, and Lindsay trophies while also being named the male Athlete of the Year as voted by the Canadian Press.

Finally, Price has won the Molson Cup six times, including five years in a row between 2011-2015. This award is given to a player who has received the most three-star honours throughout the course of a regular season schedule.

With all of that in mind, why on earth would I be crazy enough to think that Price will not re-sign with the Canadiens in the summer of 2018? It’s clear that with all of these factors considered, Price can ask for the moon and be offered stars to go along with it.

Price’s market value

On January 27^th 2016, I authored an article entitled “Under Montreal’s Charm”, which outlined the multiple reasons why I believe Carey Price’s tenure with the Montreal Canadiens is almost over.

I had proposed that the organization trade him as his value was at its highest, though I must admit that with the disastrous season the Habs had, emotions were certainly running high for everyone, myself included.

For starters, general manager Marc Bergevin will have a hard time signing him. His $6.5 million average annual value (AAV) salary will certainly increase to the $10 million mark or more once his contract expires. Most teams will gladly sign Price to the term he asks for. This number that I suggested last year has been all but confirmed by numerous hockey insiders last December, nearly 11 months after the fact.

With general managers struggling to build championship teams while respecting the salary cap, the Habs are in a bit of a bind.

Captain Max Pacioretty, whom I defended endlessly on November 29th, and again on January 20th, could fetch $7 million or more per season. Alex Galchenyuk’s breakout year should place him right around the same area as Pacioretty during his next contract negotiations. Shea Weber’s $7.85 million cap hit is heavy. Phillip Danault will command a higher salary, as will Artturi Lehkonen, should they both continue to perform exceptionally. Jeff Petry’s counts for $5.5 million against the cap, Andrew Shaw earns $3.9 million per year, and Brendan Gallagher will bank $3.75 million until the end of the 2020-2021 season.

Moreover, superstar Alexander Radulov earns $5.75 million on his one-year deal, but is expected to re-sign with the Habs. A four or five-year deal with an annual average value of $6.5 million is not a far-fetched estimation, although the team will have only two defensemen signed and four forwards locked in by the time Price becomes an unrestricted free agent. That is, unless the aforementioned players all get signed in due time.

Frustration

Pay close attention to Carey Price’s body language both on and off the ice during media scrums and interviews. It is painfully obvious to me that he is fed up with being asked the same questions over and over, while giving the same conservative responses time and time again.

His play somehow comes under fire at least once per season. Based on his winding history of injuries, followers of the team are quick to use that excuse to justify his rare shortcomings. There are times, however, when certain people have crossed the line.

Two weeks ago, a member of the mainstream media dared to ask Price if he believed that opponents were targeting his blocker side and whether he intends on focusing on that aspect of his game during practices. Coldly, Price stared at him and rhetorically asked the journalist if his blocker skills needed improvement. To suggest such a thing is insulting to one of the greatest goaltenders to don the Habs jersey, and Price had no issues calmly yet assertively putting him back in his place.

However, it goes further than that. For the better part of the last 10 years, Price has been dealing with ups and downs, countless injuries, and tons of controversies surrounding him and his play. The most frustrating thing for him is continuously participating in playoffs while enduring injuries.

Granted, everyone plays hurt during the spring tournament, but Price’s situation differs in that the team in front of him tends to crumble when he is not fully healthy. To make matters worse, nobody seems to stand up for Price when opponents deliberately crash into his crease and seemingly target his knees.

For instance, during the 2014 Eastern Conference finals, New York Rangers forward Chris Kreider infamously took Price out of the playoffs by sliding into the netminder. He would injure Carey’s knee, and that same issue continued to be a problem for Price in the following years as he miss 70 games in 2015-2016.

The icing on the cake, however, was when New Jersey Devils’ Kyle Palmieri crashed into him, and he was forced to take matters into his own hands yet again. He was seen pummeling Palmieri with his blocker, while Petry simply dragged the Devils’ forward away from Price in order to minimize the damage.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Tz0Rk7febsM

Price was later quoted as saying, “I got fired up, I guess. I’m going to stick up for myself now,” he told the Montreal Gazette’s Pat Hickey.

While Price is known to be an introvert, his words tend to stick as he chooses them wisely and carefully. Unfortunately, comments such as those speak volumes to the very frustration that I alluded to previously.

Assuredly, Price’s departure would spark an outcry from Habs fans, perhaps even more than what we all came to witness when P.K. Subban was traded last summer for Shea Weber. Not to discredit the latter’s invaluable contributions as the team’s leading defenseman, but one of the reasons he was brought in was to protect his goalie yet we haven’t seen much of that. I’m fairly certain that Price was advised regarding one of Weber’s many mandates, and maybe that could add to his mounting annoyance.

Either way, it is my impression that the Montreal market has rubbed Price the wrong way. Despite being a proven winner and most valuable player through and through, his teammates have somehow let him down when he came close to notching two shutouts in recent weeks, including on Tuesday night against the Buffalo Sabres.

Just how much longer the superstar goaltender will patiently wait for a chance to lift the Stanley Cup is anybody’s guess, but rest assured that all he knows how to do is win. If he cannot do so with Montreal, you can bet that he will gladly join another team that will view him as a compliment to or the missing piece of their already-stacked roster. Keeping Price will prove to be a daunting task for Bergevin, and it will take an unprecedented dance of seduction to convince the cornerstone of the organization to stick around.