Once Carey Price’s signing bonus was paid on Monday, it felt like only a matter of time before the Habs traded away the final year of his deal. That indeed came to fruition on Friday as Montreal moved Price’s contract to San Jose. The Canadiens also sent a 2026 fifth-round pick to the Sharks in exchange for defenceman Gannon Laroque; Price waived his no-move clause to allow the trade to go through.
The impetus for the trade is purely financial as Price’s $10.5 million cap hit now fully comes off their books. While he would have remained LTIR-eligible for the upcoming season, the Habs weren’t in a position to maximize usage of offseason LTIR, nor would they have been able to temporarily get into cap compliance before using in-season LTIR. That didn’t mean a trade was a must but the Canadiens would have been limited roster-wise for the upcoming season.
With the move, Montreal now drops to a little more than $4.5 million under the salary cap, per PuckPedia. Depending on the final composition of the roster next month, the amount they start with could be a little higher or lower than that. That puts them in a position to bank in-season cap space for the first time since 2020-21, giving them some extra flexibility heading toward the trade deadline.
Alternatively, if some of that money is unused, the bonuses earned by youngsters like Lane Hutson and Ivan Demidov (among others) could be applied toward the 2025-26 cap instead of being rolled over to next year. The Habs have had to take the rollover penalty for several seasons now due to their heavy LTIR usage with this year’s charge costing them $1.7525 million off their spending limit, the highest penalty they’ve faced yet. Avoiding that for next year would certainly be ideal and having that flexibility will cost them a fifth-round pick. The Habs still have nine selections in next year’s draft, including extra picks in the second, fourth, and seventh rounds.
As for Laroque, he once was an interesting prospect. The 22-year-old was a fourth-round pick in 2021 and put up a 52-point season with WHL Victoria in 2021-22. Considering he’s a right-shot defenceman, this seems like he’d fill a void in the organization.
However, to say injuries have been a problem for Laroque would be a big understatement. He played in just four games in 2022-23 and 18 the following year, his first full professional campaign. He had double hip surgery that season before declaring himself the healthiest he had been in years at training camp last fall. He then proceeded to be among San Jose’s first cuts and then didn’t play at all last season due to an undisclosed injury.
At this point, given the uncertainty surrounding Laroque, it’s fair to wonder if he’ll even play again at all. His inclusion in this trade is strictly for the 50-contract limit with San Jose needing to send someone back. Laroque will be a restricted free agent next summer and will be released by the Habs at that time.
As expected, it’s a quiet official end to Price’s tenure with the Canadiens, the team that drafted him fifth overall back in 2005. He was Montreal’s franchise goalie within a few years, a role he held for more than a decade. He last played in 2022 when he got into five games late in that season and played in 712 regular season games overall with his best coming in 2014-15 where he had a 1.96 GAA and a .933 SV% in 66 games, earning him the Vezina, Pearson, Hart, and Jennings Trophies. While he’ll technically now finish up as a Shark, the only team he’ll have suited up for in the NHL will be the Canadiens.
It will now be interesting to see what the Habs have planned for that cap space. Will they look to try to add another piece in the coming weeks or simply bank the room and keep their options open as the year goes on? We’ll find out that answer soon enough.