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Could the Habs Trade Carey Price’s Contract

Originally posted on The Sick Podcast | By Nick Lariviere | Last updated Aug 24, 2025 2:32 PM ET

With training camp approaching, there are talks about whether or not the Montreal Canadiens may trade the contract of their former franchise goalie, Carey Price.

Price’s contract only has 1 year left on his 8-year deal signed in the summer of 2017, and his contract will be going on LTIR when training camp starts in September if the Habs keep his deal on their books, meaning his salary won’t count against the cap.

However, if they do put him on LTIR, the Canadiens will need to spend as close to the cap as they can to get the full cap relief of Price’s contract. Let’s say the Canadiens don’t use that cap they get from putting Price on LTIR by the start of the season, the captain space would be forfeited and therefore not be allowed to be used the rest of the season, based on the rules for the Accruable Cap Space Limit. Check out this article on the explanation of how the cap situation works when using LTIR to begin a season.

Looking at the Habs cap space situation, by putting Price on LTIR, they would have 4.57 million dollars to play with to get as close to the cap maximum as possible. Essentially speaking, although the Habs look to be $5.93 million over the cap for next season, they really have $4.57 million in salary to make their team better. If the Canadiens trade Price’s contract, they will have $4.57 million in cap space with no consequences.

Currently, there are no teams below the cap floor, so it seems like if the Habs do trade Price, it would need to be to a team over or near the cap that needs the relief to be under the salary cap. In this case, that team will likely need to trade a contract that the Habs can fit within their cap situation.

The only team that will need to clear cap to be compliant is the defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers. However, they will also save some cap space to begin the season with Matthew Tkachuk possibly being out until January, following off-season surgery. This means Tkachuk will be out about half the season, and therefore, they will be able to just fit under the cap with their current roster.

With every team being between the cap floor and maximum, it means that no team actually needs to add Carey Price to their payroll, however some teams may be willing to take on his contract for LTIR purposes in a bigger but that likely won’t occur until after September 1st, as he is owed a $5.5 million signing bonus for the final time on that day. Given how paying that bonus affects a team’s cap situation, it makes sense that, since no team needs to hit the floor that they wait until September 1st to work out a deal.

It will be interesting to see if any team actually trades for the contract, as nobody needs to help the Habs by taking it on. If the Habs do keep his contract, it would be wise to add another player around the $4 million mark so that they can maximize the cap relief as much as possible for the upcoming season.

Do you see anybody taking on Price’s contract, and if so, who?

This article first appeared on The Sick Podcast and was syndicated with permission.

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