The Montreal Canadiens will still have the services of Carey Price. Although the Habs exposed the goalie in the NHL expansion draft, the Seattle Kraken decided not to take the veteran netminder.
According to Pierre LeBrun — considered by some as the Adrian Wojnarowski of NHL reporting — the Kraken simply did not have enough interest in Price.
Kraken GM Ron Francis on their decision to pass on Carey Price:
“We talked about him. Just decided to go a different direction. He was tempting.”@TSNHockey @TheAthletic
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) July 22, 2021
Price was among the most talked-about names in the leadup to Wednesday’s expansion draft, but rumors started to swirl before the event itself that the Kraken was not keen on getting the former Vezina Trophy winner.
Instead of Price, the Kraken selected Cale Fleury from the available list of names provided by the Canadiens.
The popular belief is that the Kraken just did not want to take on a long-term commitment to Price. The 33-year-old goalie, who impressed a lot in the recent 2021 NHL Playoffs has a contract that carries an AAV of $10.5 million and won’t expire until the end of the 2025-26 season when he’s already 38. Considering Price’s age and price tag, Seattle would have had an aging asset that's highly vulnerable to getting hurt and practically untradeable had the franchise went with him.
For their needs between the pipes, the Kraken opted to select free agent Chris Driedger (Florida Panthers), Joey Daccord (Ottawa Senators), and Vitek Vanecek (Washington Capitals).
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