Canadiens trade Carey Price to Sharks in salary cap move

The Montreal Canadiens traded goaltender Carey Price to the San Jose Sharks on Friday, in exchange for defenseman Gannon Laroque and a fifth-round draft pick in 2026.

Price hasn’t played in the NHL since April 29, 2022. He was limited to just five games in the 2021-22 season following surgery on a torn meniscus the previous summer. Price was placed on long-term injured reserve prior to the 2022-23 campaign and has remained there ever since. This is the final season of Price’s eight-year, $84 million contract, and after the Canadiens paid him a $5.5 million signing bonus on Sept. 1, they were more easily able to ship his $10.5 million cap hit to a trade partner in San Jose.

Montreal was $5.9 million over the NHL’s salary cap before Friday’s transaction. PuckPedia projects the Canadiens now have $4.56 million in cap space available with Price off their books.

Price played the entirety of his 712-game NHL career with Montreal, posting an overall .917 SV% and 2.51 GAA. One of the most decorated netminders of his generation, Price in 2014-15 became the first goaltender to win the Hart Trophy, Vezina Trophy, Ted Lindsay Award and a share of the William M. Jennings Trophy in a single season. He also earned the most career wins (361) by a Canadiens goaltender.

The 38-year-old’s family was preparing for a potential shift out of Montreal. Price’s wife, Angela, was asked on social media earlier this week how she would feel about the Canadiens trading Price’s contract, and responded that she “probably [feels] the same way most of Montreal would feel … But ultimately, you want what’s best for the team.”

By trading Price, the Canadiens got back a 22-year-old blueliner in Laroque. The right-shot defender — who was drafted in the fourth round, 103rd, by San Jose in 2021 — has yet to make his NHL debut.