Montreal Canadiens
Price Injured, Tells Canadiens to Leave Him Exposed During Seattle Draft
Carey Price is dealing with a potentially serious injury and it was his idea for the Montreal Canadiens to leave him exposed for Kraken expansion draft.
As per a report by Frank Servalli of The Daily Faceoff, the explanation behind why the Montreal Canadiens would risk losing goaltender Carey Price for nothing in the NHL Expansion Draft is starting to become a little more clear. He reports, “Breaking: As #SeaKraken contemplate options, sources say Carey Price’s health has clouded the selection process. It’s too soon to say for certain, but he may miss significant time next season with a hip injury.”
Related: Canadiens’ Price Has Waived No-Move Ahead of Expansion Draft
The Kraken were happy enough to take Jake Allen from the Canadiens in the draft. They never assumed Price would be available. When they learned the Habs had convinced Price to waive his no-move clause for the purposes of protecting Allen, it gave the Kraken and GM Ron Francis a cause of pausing to reconsider their strategy. Seravalli writes, “But as the Kraken have dug in with their due diligence in the 24 hours since learning Price would become available, a deep dive is underway on Price’s health.”
What’s been discovered is that Price might not be 100%. In fact, he might be far from it. Seravalli explains in a post on Daily Faceoff:
Sources say there are significant concerns about Price’s health moving forward that may (or may not) deter the Kraken from selecting the Anahim Lake, British Columbia native. An MRI recently conducted by the Canadiens revealed a hip injury that could require surgery. The true extent of the injury is not yet known – and likely will not be known until later in the week, when Price travels to the United States to be seen by an expert. The results of the examination might not be available until Friday, after Seattle selects its team on Wednesday.
The injury news means that Price could miss anywhere from a few games to start the season to most of the 2021-22 season. That’s not clear at this point and it doesn’t sound like the Kraken will know how bad the injury is prior to having to make a decision.
This Was All Price’s Idea
What’s really interesting here is that sources indicate it was Price who suggested he waive his “no-move” clause. Knowing he wasn’t healthy, his belief was that the Kraken would have taken Allen and that might have really hurt the Canadiens to open the year, especially if he wasn’t available.
Potentially, Price figured the combination of his extremely high salary and his health would be too risk for Seattle and that they’d focus their efforts on other netminders, leaving him free to rehab and return. All the while, Allen could be the starter in his absence and then the tandem would take it from there and see where things go.
Reportedly, the Canadiens themselves weren’t confident in the plan. Sources say Bergevin feverishly worked the phones trying to get good value on an Allen trade. When that return wasn’t there, they went with Price’s idea.
The NHL Helped the Canadiens Sort All of This Out
Seravalli adds that the Montreal Canadiens received an exemption from the NHL and NHL Players’ Association for Price to waive his “no-move” clause. Because the team didn’t ask him to do so by the Tuesday deadline, they had to reach out to the league to get approval to do so later. It was because Price volunteered to do so and wasn’t pressured by the Canadiens that the NHL allowed the exemption.
In the end, Seattle could still take Price. If he’s not wanting to leave the Canadiens, there’s no guarantee he’ll stay put should the Kraken want to make him the face of their franchise.
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