Morning Notes: Price, Monahan, McMorrow
The Montreal Canadiens would like a healthy Carey Price to be leading them onto the ice every night. But since that’s not a possibility right now, taking the entire year (and perhaps the rest of his career) off might actually be the best option for the team. Eric Engels’ latest column for Sportsnet examines the Price situation, his current injury status, and how his absence actually might benefit the team in the long run, thanks to the salary cap system.
In it, he also suggests that the Canadiens’ competitive window likely won’t be until 2025, at which point even a healthy Price would be 38. Even if it happened sooner than that, the veteran goaltender’s time leading Montreal is all but over.
- With Sean Monahan undergoing his own hip surgery earlier this year, Canadiens fans were wondering whether he would even be ready for the start of the season, after acquiring him yesterday. The veteran center is hoping so and told the media that he’s already back on the ice four times a week preparing for the season. He feels healthy and ready to “play hockey again at a high level.” While the Canadiens landed a first-round pick for Monahan already, if he can reclaim any sort of semblance of his former self, they may be able to flip him for even more.
- The Denver Pioneers are having a good week, and it continues with the commitment of top prospect Brendan McMorrow. The 16-year-old will be joining the U.S. National Team Development Program this year, with his sights set on the 2024 draft and a freshman season at DU in 2024-25. So much for the second-round pick that the Spokane Chiefs used on the young forward in the 2021 WHL US Prospects draft.
Tucker Poolman’s Health Status Still Uncertain
After signing a four-year, $10MM contract with the Vancouver Canucks last offseason, defenseman Tucker Poolman was limited to just 40 games in his first campaign in British Columbia. Dealing with migraines and post-concussion symptoms throughout the season, Poolman had just three points all year and played just 17 minutes per game.
There is some optimism on Poolman’s health status, though, although it remains to be seen whether or not he’s healthy enough to play once the high-intensity training camp environment begins. His agent, Dean Grillo, noted to The Province’s Ben Kuzma that Poolman has indeed been training and skating all offseason, slowly trying to work his way back up to game readiness without inducing a recurrence of concussion symptoms.
As Kuzma notes, headaches and migraines have been a persistent issue for Poolman throughout his career, with various degrees of linkage to concussions. With other injuries such as major shoulder surgery and shot-blocking-related ailments, the 29-year-old Poolman has faced a lot of adversity in his NHL career.
If Poolman can’t return to start the season, expect Kyle Burroughs to get some more reps in the NHL as a third-pairing, defensive-minded body. Burroughs had five points in 42 games last season with Vancouver.
Breaking Down The Sean Monahan Trade Conditions
Seeing conditional draft picks get dealt is commonplace in this day and age. However, the stipulations on them are usually easy enough to understand. Whether it’s a third-round pick dropping down to a fourth if a player doesn’t play enough games for their new team, or a second-round pick upgrading to a first if the team in question wins the Stanley Cup, the conditions on trades are sensible, at least for the majority of the time.
The Montreal Canadiens seem to buck that trend, though. Starting with some lengthy conditions on the Christian Dvorak trade prior to last season, the Canadiens have agreed to an even more complex (and frivolous, depending on who you ask) set of conditions on the 2025 conditional first-round pick that they acquired today from the Calgary Flames, along with Sean Monahan. So much so that it’s worth its own post, with reference drawn from CapFriendly’s posting and reporting on the topic.
There are three possible umbrella scenarios that could determine which draft pick Montreal actually receives:
Scenario 1: If Calgary’s 2024 first-round pick falls between 20th and 32nd overall, Montreal can elect to receive Calgary’s 2024 first instead of their 2025 first.
Scenario 2: Calgary receives the 2025 lottery-protected first-round pick sent to them by the Florida Panthers in the Jonathan Huberdeau trade.
Scenario 3: Calgary does NOT receive Florida’s 2025 lottery-protected first-round pick.
Scenario 1
This is easily the simplest and potentially most likely scenario if the Flames are still rolling strong two years from now. If Montreal opts to swap out an unknown 2025 first-rounder for a late 2024 first-rounder, then the trade tree ends and Montreal receives no additional compensation.
Scenario 2
Now, things get complex with the addition of Florida’s 2025 lottery-protected first-round pick. In the event that both the Flames’ and Panthers’ 2025 first-round picks are NOT in the top 10, the Canadiens will receive the better of the two selections.
However, if the Flames’ 2025 first-round pick is a top 10 pick and the Panthers’ pick is not, Montreal is guaranteed to receive the Panthers’ pick. If the opposite is true, Montreal will receive Calgary’s selection.
Scenario 3
This is the most unlikely yet most complex scenario. If Florida’s 2025 first-round pick ends up as a top-ten choice, they’ll retain the pick and send their 2026 first-rounder to Calgary instead. This has two possible implications for Montreal:
If Calgary’s 2025 first is NOT top 10: Montreal will receive Calgary’s 2025 first-round pick, and, if Florida’s 2025 first-round pick is not top ten, but was transferred to another team due to prior conditions AND is a better pick than Calgary’s, Montreal will also receive Calgary’s 2025 fourth-round pick as compensation.
If Calgary’s 2025 first is top 10: If Calgary’s 2025 first-round pick is first overall, Montreal will receive the better of Florida’s and Calgary’s 2026 first-round picks AND Calgary’s 2025 third-round pick. If Calgary’s 2025 first-round pick falls between selections 2 through 10, Montreal will receive the pick.
All in all, if the reported conditions are correct, the Canadiens have the potential to receive one of the following five outcomes:
2024 Calgary first-round pick
2025 Calgary first-round pick + potential 2025 Calgary fourth-round pick
2025 Florida first-round pick
2026 Calgary first-round pick + 2025 Calgary third-round pick
2026 Florida first-round pick + 2025 Calgary third-round pick
Carey Price Not Expected To Be Ready For Season; May Not Play At All
When the Montreal Canadiens made the trade for Sean Monahan earlier today, some wondered whether it meant that Carey Price had not responded well to his rehab work. After all, the Canadiens are well over the cap if Price was going to be healthy enough to play this season.
That does not appear to be the case. Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes announced that Price will not be ready for the start of the season and there is a chance he does not play at all. News on the goaltender’s knee has been “discouraging” and Hughes does not currently see a path through rehab to Price playing this year.
The team will have more information when Price undergoes his medical at training camp but as of now, they seem to be preparing for life without him. Monahan’s addition pushed them nearly $6MM over the cap ceiling, though he too is unlikely to be ready for the start of the year. The former Calgary Flames forward underwent hip surgery earlier this year and Hughes expects him to be back at some point in November.
That will mean at least $16.8MM on long-term injured reserve to start the year, as the Canadiens use their cap space and financial might to acquire future assets.
Price has four years left on the eight-year, $84MM contract he signed in 2017, though a huge chunk of that has already been paid over the first half of the deal (and this year’s signing bonus).
As frustrating as it may seem for Canadiens fans, the possibility of Price never playing again may actually benefit the organization in the long run. The 35-year-old goaltender has come nowhere close to performing up to the level of a $10.5MM cap hit over the last several years, save for the incredible performance in Montreal’s cinderella run to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final.
Since he signed that massive extension, Price has recorded a .908 save percentage in 203 regular season games, posting a 91-86-24 record in the process. A huge reason for those struggles has been injuries, which have cropped up all over his body after so much time in the net.
While surgery remains an option to try and get his knee back to a level where he can reclaim the crease, there’s no telling how his body would react to that kind of an operation at this point or whether he’d be able to perform at even an NHL level, let alone his own previous mark. With over 700 regular season games played, Price currently ranks 27th all-time, and is even higher (21st) on the wins list.
In the meantime, Jake Allen and Sam Montembeault will serve as the Canadiens’ tandem, with restricted free agent Cayden Primeau still to sign.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Calgary Flames Sign Nazem Kadri
The Calgary Flames may have lost Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau, but they certainly aren’t rebuilding. After trading Sean Monahan to the Montreal Canadiens to clear enough cap space, the team has signed free agent forward Nazem Kadri to a seven-year, $49MM ($7MM AAV) contract. PuckPedia has the full details:
- 2022-23: $4.5MM salary + $2.5MM signing bonus
- 2023-24: $4.5MM salary + $2.5MM signing bonus
- 2024-25: $4.5MM salary + $2.5MM signing bonus
- 2025-26: $4.5MM salary + $2.5MM signing bonus
- 2026-27: $6.0MM salary + $1.0MM signing bonus
- 2027-28: $7.0MM salary
Kadri, 31, came into the summer as one of the top free agents on the market after an incredible season with the Colorado Avalanche that included a career-high 87 points and resulted in a Stanley Cup championship. It’s not often a player of that caliber sits on the open market for more than a month but it appears as though the Flames and general manager Brad Treliving (whose birthday is today) are going to be the beneficiaries. Kadri comes to town along with Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar, completely changing the look of the team and essentially replacing the production of Gaudreau and Tkachuk.
Treliving released the following statement:Nazem is a highly competitive top six player who makes our centre ice position deep. He brings a high skill level and determination to our group combined with his recent experience of a Stanley Cup championship. We look forward to welcoming Nazem and his family to Calgary and his contributions to our team’s ultimate success.
The issue some will point to is the age of the two-way pivot, who will turn 32 in October, and how he had never really come close to his 2021-22 level of production previously. While that is true, Kadri also offers some things outside his overall offensive production that can make him a valuable part of the team. A strong defensive player who has received Selke Trophy votes on three occasions, he is also willing to engage physically and has had a knack for scoring at clutch moments. Avalanche fans will fondly remember his first playoff run with the team when he led all postseason players with five game-winning goals in just 15 appearances.
Of course, as good as those two performances were, you can’t discuss Kadri without mentioning his other postseason escapades. Three times–twice for the Toronto Maple Leafs and once for Colorado–he has been suspended in the playoffs, arguably costing his team a chance at advancing. While he can say that part of his game is behind him, the most recent incident was just a year ago, and there’s no guarantee he won’t do something to jeopardize his team again in the future.
Still, adding a player like this to the mix keeps the Flames’ competitive window wide open, at least for the next couple of seasons. The Huberdeau extension and this long-term deal for Kadri will likely not end well, though, with the salary cap expected to increase significantly down the road, they at least will get some relief.
One other thing that might be brought up is how Kadri blocked a trade to the Flames just a few years ago, when the Maple Leafs tried to send him west in exchange for T.J. Brodie. The London, Ontario native explained that decision earlier this year in a piece for the Player’s Tribune, saying that it had nothing to do with Calgary and everything to do with trying to stay in Toronto, where he wanted to win. The Maple Leafs would end up sending him to Colorado, a team he couldn’t block, and signed Brodie in free agency instead.
The only way the Flames can afford a player like Kadri is by moving out considerable salary, and that’s what a Monahan trade represents. The 27-year-old forward has a $6.375MM cap hit for next season and has completely fallen off a cliff in terms of production over the last few years. Once a consistent 30-goal, 60-point center, Monahan had just eight goals and 23 points in 65 games this year while seeing his ice time drop to just 14 minutes a night. Injury has hampered his game significantly, and there’s no telling at this point if he’ll ever get back to being a top-six contributor.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Montreal Canadiens Acquire Sean Monahan
After news broke that the Calgary Flames will be signing Nazem Kadri, the obvious move to clear cap space was trading away Sean Monahan‘s contract. That will be the case as Monahan is headed to the Montreal Canadiens.
Given Kadri’s reported $7MM cap hit, the swap represents just a $625K cap increase for the Flames, who were on the hook for the final season of Monahan’s seven-year, $44.625MM contract. Moving from Monahan to Kadri will cost them more than that though, as Calgary is sending a conditional 2025 first-round pick to the Canadiens in order for them to take the whole contract. Montreal will send future considerations (nothing) back.
The reason the trade took so long to work out is the set of conditions, which are some of the most complicated the league has ever seen.
- If Calgary’s 2024 first is pick 20-32, Montreal has the option to take that pick (must decide before draft starts).
- If Florida’s 2025 first transfers to Calgary (from the Matthew Tkachuk trade) then:
- If Calgary and Florida’s 2025 firsts are both outside the top-10, Montreal will receive the earlier one OR
- If Calgary’s 2025 first is inside the top-10 and Florida’s is not, Montreal will receive Florida’s
- If Florida’s 2025 first does not transfer to Calgary then:
- If Calgary’s 2025 first is not in the top-10, Montreal will receive it AND
- If Florida’s 2025 first is not in the top-10, it has been transferred to another team, and is better than Calgary’s 2025 pick, Montreal will receive Calgary’s 2025 fourth-round pick
- If Calgary’s 2025 first is in the top-10, Montreal will receive it UNLESS
- If it is the first-overall selection, Calgary will retain the 2025 first, and Montreal will receive Calgary’s 2025 third-round pick, and the better of Calgary and Florida’s 2026 firsts.
- If Calgary’s 2025 first is not in the top-10, Montreal will receive it AND
For the Canadiens, who are trying to orchestrate a full rebuild under new general manager Kent Hughes, going after Monahan is a no-brainer. Adding a premium future asset for nothing more than a year of wasted cap space is exactly how you move things along, even though they will have to make some adjustments if Monahan is healthy enough to play after hip surgery earlier this year.
“Healthy enough to play” seems to be the operative phrase in Montreal right now, as their cap situation could vary wildly depending on the status of Carey Price. If the veteran goaltender is placed on long-term injured reserve again, the team would have some added flexibility. If he does play, it will be interesting to see how the Canadiens fit Monahan in.
Regardless, this is likely not a competitive year for the Canadiens, even though they’ve added some young talent, meaning they can take on salary without any real risk. In fact, should Monahan prove healthy enough, he might even be a nice deadline chip for the team to re-sell. While he is cost-prohibitive at his full cap hit, a retained Monahan for the last part of the season could be an attractive target for contenders looking to add some depth.
Carolina Hurricanes Extend ECHL Affiliation
The Carolina Hurricanes have extended their affiliation with the ECHL’s Norfolk Admirals through the 2022-23 season, keeping the two organizations together for a second season. Huricanes general manager Don Wadell released a brief statement:
We’re thrilled to continue this partnership, which has been mutually beneficial. The Admirals are a first-class organization and they provide a great environment for our prospects to develop.
While the ECHL isn’t a proving ground for top prospects, it does provide a place for raw draft picks to play big minutes instead of struggling in the AHL. For instance, the Hurricanes sent Blake Murray, a sixth-round pick from 2019 to the Admirals this season, where he racked up 14 goals and 35 points in 64 games. The young forward, who is signed to an entry-level contract, will now try to work his way up through the system after getting a full season of professional hockey under his belt.
Norfolk specifically has plenty of experience with prospect development, given they were an AHL franchise for 15 years.
Pittsburgh Penguins Promote Todd Reirden
The Pittsburgh Penguins have given Todd Reirden a promotion, elevating him to associate coach, and signed him to a two-year contract extension. General manager Ron Hextall released the following statement:
Todd plays an important role on our coaching staff. He’s had a proven impact on the defensemen and contributes to the coaching staff as a whole with his wealth of knowledge from over a decade as an NHL coach. We are excited to extend his contract.
Reirden has been with the Penguins since 2020, when he was fired as head coach of the Washington Capitals. This is his second stint with the organization, following a run as the head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and assistant with the NHL club between 2008-2014.
Given the big changes on defense in Pittsburgh this year – Jeff Petry, Jan Rutta, and Ty Smith are now in town – Reirden will have his hands full sorting out pairings and responsibilities. If he can get the best out of Petry while pushing Smith back on his previous development path, the Penguins group could be quite formidable.
Minor Transactions: 08/18/22
While Nazem Kadri has certainly stolen the spotlight today, there will be a handful of smaller moves that are also worth recognizing. As always, we’ll keep track of those notable minor transactions right here.
- The Ontario Reign have signed Alan Quine to a one-year AHL contract, bringing over the former NHL forward after he spent last season with the Henderson Silver Knights. Quine, 29, last played in the NHL in 2019-20 and has 106 regular season games to his name.
- One of the players that saw his exclusive draft rights expire this week, Brandon Kruse, has found a one-year AHL contract with the Toronto Marlies. The 2018 fifth-round pick failed to ink an entry-level deal with the Vegas Golden Knights by the deadline, making him an unrestricted free agent.
- Nikita Popugaev, who once announced his retirement from hockey to pursue life as a social media influencer, has signed with HK Sochi in the KHL. A fourth-round pick of the New Jersey Devils in 2017, his NHL rights are still technically owned by them and will be indefinitely.
- Logan Day is headed from Lehigh Valley to the Hershey Bears, signing a one-year AHL deal with the latter. The undrafted defenseman had 19 points in 72 games for the Phantoms last season.
- Lehigh Valley, meanwhile, has re-signed Charlie Gerard to another AHL contract, bringing back the undrafted forward for another year. In 55 games last season, Gerard had six goals and 12 points.
This page will be updated throughout the day.
Nashville To Host 2023 NHL Draft, Awards
The NHL is headed to Nashville. The Predators will host the 2023 NHL Draft and the 2023 NHL Awards next year, the first time the events have been held in the same place since 2006. The award ceremony is set for June 26, while the draft will commence two days later on June 28 (a Wednesday) with the televised first round. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman released the following statement:
We are thrilled to bring two of our marquee events – the 2023 NHL Awards and the 2023 NHL Draft – to Nashville, a special city that certainly knows how to throw a great party. From the 2003 NHL Draft to the 2016 NHL All-Star Weekend to the 2017 Stanley Cup Final to the 2022 NHL Stadium Series game, the city, the Predators organization and the Country Music community have overwhelmed the NHL with their welcome and support every time Nashville has hosted a League event. We cannot wait to return next June to celebrate the stars of our game and introduce the next generation of NHL Players.
The 2023 draft class is expected to be among the best the league has seen in years, with Connor Bedard, Matvei Michkov, Adam Fantilli, Zach Benson, Dalibor Dvorsky, and others looking like star-level talent (if not even better than that). Teams across the league are already trying to set themselves up for the best draft position possible to get a shot at Bedard in particular, who continues to wow audiences with a brilliant shot at the World Juniors, even if his overall impact on the game is limited at such a young age.
The Regina Pats superstar only turned 17 a few weeks ago, meaning he will not even be 18 by the time he is picked by an NHL franchise next summer. The hype by next year’s event will likely be out of control, and in a city known for its event planning, the draft should be a fun time for fans and players alike.