Habs’ Carey Price unlikely to play in 2022-23, acquire Sean Monahan
Anthony Scultore
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The news many hockey fans hoped they wouldn’t hear were echoed by Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes regarding goalie Carey Price. After fighting hard to comeback from knee surgery in 2021-22, he may not play at all this upcoming season.
“This summer he went through the process of a shot to the knee seeing if that would help,” Hughes said via NHL.com on Thursday night. “It did not, and at this point, we don’t expect Carey to be available for the start of this season. Quite frankly, I don’t know that there’s a path for Carey to return this season through the rehab process. At this point in time, the news in terms of Carey’s knee is pretty discouraging in the sense that there hasn’t been any improvement.”
Carey Price unlikely to play next season
Price, 35, had a difficult campaign battling injuries suffered during the Habs Stanley Cup run in 2021. After having offseason knee surgery, he entered the league’s NHL/NHLPA player assistance program. It caused him to miss almost the entirety of the 2021-2022 campaign as he was only able to appear in five games. The 15 year veteran, all with Montreal, posted a 1-4-0 record with a 3.63 GAA and .878 SV%.
This past summer, Price won the Bill Masterton Trophy for his perseverance and sportsmanship to the game of hockey.
“There’s obstacles in life that will always challenge you,” he said in his acceptance speech. “I think having the ability to overcome those and keep things in perspective and keep moving forward is something we should all be teaching our children and loved ones.”
Price is a former Vezina and Hart Trophy winner as the league’s best goaltender and MVP. In 712 career games, he is 361-261-79 with a 2.51 GAA and a .917 SV%.
Back in January, Price indicated to reporters that retirement was a real possibility. He has four years remaining on his contract with an AAV of $10.5M.
Canadiens officially acquire Sean Monahan
In the aftermath of the Calgary Flames signing Nazem Kadri, they needed to clear cap space and did so by sending Sean Monahan and a conditional durst-round pick to the Montreal Canadiens for future considerations.
The conditions on the pick are extremely convoluted but you can read them at the Habs website.
Monahan, 27, has 1 year remaining at $6.375M and is recovering from hip surgery. In 65 games during the 2021-22 campaign, he registered 23 points.
“I’ve got a lot to prove, and I think the biggest thing is I want to prove it to myself. I know I’m a great player. It’s been a rocky road, so I’ve been working really hard this summer,” said Monahan on Thursday. “On the ice, I feel like myself again and I’m enjoying the game. When you’re injured with those kinds of injuries that I’ve had, it takes a toll on you mentally, and to feel good again and love being on the ice and getting out there and having fun, pushing yourself, it’s a good feeling because it’s been a while. It’s been a long road coming.”
Regarding his recovery from offseason hip surgery, Monahan did not provide a definitive timeframe.
“I don’t really want to have a target date, but my goal is to show up to camp and be ready to go from Day 1. That’s my target. But if there’s things that I’m feeling or lingering, I just don’t want to have any setbacks,” he clarified. “I’ve lived that. I’ve done that many times and just played with it, so I think I’m going to try and be 100 percent healthy and feel good mentally and come in and have a great season for the Montreal Canadiens.”
