Earlier this week, during the Montreal Canadiens' visit to Vancouver, an unexpected visitor showed up at the team's practice. It was none other than Carey Price.
The goaltender, who is still under contract with the team, was able to reconnect with his former teammates and chat with Martin St-Louis and Kent Hughes.
An image of the former team' star with the GM in the arena stands was widely shared.
One has to wonder what the two men were discussing. Could it have been about a possible trade involving him?
Trading Price's contract is unlikely but not impossible
In a recent article on the TVA Sports website, Nicolas Cloutier took advantage of Price's visit to the Canadiens' circle to explore a potential trade of his contract.
To do so, he spoke with Hart Levine, the founder of the website Puckpedia.
'It won't be easy, and of course, it's unlikely, but you never know.It's not impossible.'
- Hart Levine
As Cloutier reminds us, Kent Hughes and his counterparts have always managed to handle the goaltender's $10.5M contract.
For the past two seasons, he has even kept him on the main roster at the start of the campaign, then placed him on LTIR to maximize the benefits.
But everything could change at the start of next season, which will also be the last year of his contract.
Price's salary will become a burden in 2025-26 for the Canadiens, especially if the club wants to add key pieces to its roster through free agency.
A trade will likely become inevitable if the Canadiens want to give themselves some cap flexibility.
Taking inspiration from the Vancouver Canucks?
If Hughes places Price on LTIR at the start of next season, as he did this season, the GM could take inspiration from a trade that took place last October.
This was the trade that sent Erik Brannstrom to Vancouver and gave the Colorado Avalanche Tucker Poolman (who will no longer play in the NHL) and a 4th-round pick.
The purpose of this trade was for Colorado to benefit from Poolman's salary by placing him on LTIR.
'A team that is already using the long-term injured reserve list might think:'What difference does it make if we bury $5M or $15M?'
If Montreal wants to give us compensation, we'll do it,' explains Hart Levine, our salary cap expert.
And sometimes, the team can't put together the right puzzle pieces to optimize the relief provided by the NHL.'
'That's why some teams are open to acquiring an injured player to build that puzzle.
And that's why the Avalanche acquired Poolman, to pair him with Gabriel Landeskog on long-term injured reserve.
With the pieces at their disposal, the Avalanche couldn't solve the puzzle.
But Poolman's contract was the solution.'
- Hart Levine
Looking at this type of trade, the only question remaining is whether the GM will be willing to give up a valuable asset to free up cap space.
He also needs to find a team struggling with its salary cap.
Otherwise, Kent Hughes will have to find a trade partner looking to reach the salary floor, much like the Chicago Blackhawks did last week by acquiring Shea Weber's contract.
The Blackhawks likely remain the biggest possibility in this scenario.
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