Montreal Canadiens fans breathed a collective sigh of relief when Carey Price finally took to the ice this season, even if it was for just a few games. The all-world netminder missed nearly all of the 2021-22 campaign with a knee injury and time spent in the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program, but he returned to play in five games at the end of the season. His battle through adversity was enough to win him the 2022 Masterton Trophy, but with rumors swirling about how healthy Price was and whether he could return at all next season, it was a little bittersweet.
The procedures and rehab aren’t over for Price, yet, unfortunately. General manager Kent Hughes said Friday that Price had a “small procedure” on his knee recently and the team is waiting to see how it responds. Hughes did go so far as to clarify that it was not a surgery or operation. It’s unclear whether or not Hughes is referring to the platelet-rich plasma injection Price received late last month, which Price already confirmed publicly weeks ago, though. It does make it seem unlikely that Hughes would be referring to the same procedure if it had already been made public.
If it’s more work done on Price, though, it’ll theoretically dig into his offseason training time more than he had planned. Price had said recently that he is preparing as if he’ll play for the Canadiens in 2022-23, though as more health-related news around the netminder trickles in, it seems more unlikely.
It’ll raise interesting offseason questions for the Canadiens on the ice, who will need to be active in the goalie market if Price isn’t healthy.
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