The Montreal Canadiens pondered trading Carey Price's contract before the 2025-26 season. Noise grew louder about a potential deal involving the informally retired goaltender's contract. On Friday, a deal was finally struck. Price, along with a fifth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, was traded to the San Jose Sharks.
To be clear, this is purely a financial move. Price will likely never play a professional hockey game again. He has dealt with significant knee injuries over the last few years. As a result, the Sharks won't see the future Hall of Famer feature in their goalie rotation for the upcoming season.
Price did not immediately react to the trade. However, he eventually addressed the matter on Friday night with a short and simple post. “Always a Hab. Just a teal one for now,” the Canadiens legend wrote on social media following the trade with the Sharks.
What Canadiens, Sharks get out of Carey Price trade
The Canadiens' side of this is rather simple. They could have retained Price's contract and stashed it on long-term injured reserve. In that event, however, Montreal would have started the season with no available cap space. And it would have used up an LTIR slot.
Now, Montreal has around $4.5 million available to them immediately. At the NHL Trade Deadline, they are projected to be able to add nearly $21 million in salary, according to PuckPedia. It could lead to a busy deadline day, especially if Montreal is competing as many expect.
For the Sharks, the reason is a bit less clear. They were over the cap floor when this trade took place. And they now have less than $10 million in immediately available space. However, this is more of a longer-term move for this season.
The Sharks are expected to be sellers around the NHL Trade Deadline. They have a lot of pending free agents who could be available as a result. Taking Price's contract allows them to be above the salary floor once all of those players have been dealt.
Price will likely never suit up for the Sharks. However, he could still have an impact on how the team operates this season. Both the Canadiens and Sharks are around one month away from dropping the puck on the 2025-26 season.
