D’Amico Reports Price’s Contract Could Be Traded Soon

According to D’Amico’s sources, the three teams that could be interested in taking on Price’s contract are the San Jose Sharks, Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins. Both the Sharks and Blackhawks are deep in their rebuilds, while the Penguins are just starting their rebuild. With that being said, all three teams have players they are hoping to sell off to get picks and prospects that can help them in the future. By acquiring Price’s contract, either of these teams can sell off a few players and not have to worry about falling below the cap floor.

The Penguins may be the most intriguing of the three teams, given their current situation and willingness to want to move multiple players like Rickard Rakell, Bryan Rust, among other players on their payroll, to get value back as they prepare for the next few years of a rebuild. Therefore, with all that cap going out for futures, they can really use a contract like Price’s to keep on the books for the year, so they won’t be punished for going under the cap floor. Adding Price’s contract could allow them to trade around $20 million in contracts throughout the season, which could include long-time Penguin Evgeni Malkin’s last year of his $9.5 million cap hit.

As it stands, the Sharks are currently the only team in the NHL that is under the $70 million cap floor with $66.175 million spent on their players, which means they need to add about $4 million to their team salary before the end of training camp. Adding Price’s $10.5 million cap hit to their books will be good to reach the floor and trade another player in the $4-5 million range if they need to.

The Blackhawks are between the Sharks and the Penguins in terms of the salary cap situation. They currently are above the floor, but they also have a few contracts that they may want to move for futures, such as Ilya Mikheyev and Jason Dickenson (could be an option for 2nd line centre for the season), at some point during the season. Price’s contract would also help the Blackhawks trade both guys at some point during the season.

The trade watch for Carey Price’s contract has begun, and it will be interesting which team ends up taking his contract and if the Habs get something back in return, or if it will just be for future considerations.

What team do you see taking on Carey Price’s contract?