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Carey Price

Carey Price Explains Absence From Montreal Canadiens

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Last month, Carey Price left the Montreal Canadiens to enter the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. Today, he released a statement explaining why he left and what his next steps will look like:

Over the last few years I have let myself get to a very dark place and I didn’t have the tools to cope with that struggle. Last month I made the decision to enter a residential treatment facility for substance use. Things had reached a point that I realized I needed to prioritize my health for both myself and for my family. Asking for help when you need it is what we encourage our kids to do. And it was what I needed to do.

I am working through years of neglecting my own mental health which will take some time to repair; all I can do is take it day by day. With that comes some uncertainty with when I will return to play. I appreciate all of the overwhelming support and well wishes. I please ask that the media and our hockey community continue to respect our privacy at this time. Your support and respect of this so far has been a critical piece to my recovery.

Price has not yet played this season and was recovering from offseason surgery at the time of his departure from the team. Now back with the club, it is not clear when he will return to action.

A 14-year veteran of the NHL, Price has won the Vezina, Hart, Jennings, and Ted Lindsay awards, an Olympic gold medal with Team Canada and sits 27th on the all-time list of games played by a goaltender. His 360 regular season wins put him 21st on the all-time list, and his 43 postseason victories put him 28th.

Carey Price Returns To Montreal Canadiens

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Nov 8: Price is now back with the team, though there is still no timeline on his return to game action. The veteran goaltender was examined by trainers at the practice facility yesterday according to John Lu of TSN, who also notes that his first interaction with teammates is expected to be Tuesday.

Nov 2: The Montreal Canadiens are floundering at the bottom of the Atlantic Division, winning just two of their first ten games. They’ve been working without Carey Price, who last month announced that he was entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. The minimum 30-day period for the program is up at the end of the week, and today Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme told reporters including Eric Engels of Sportsnet that they expect their star goaltender back soon.

There’s no exact date for Price’s return, but they could certainly use him. The team has been going with Jake Allen and Sam Montembeault in his absence, a tandem that has combined for a .899 save percentage through ten games. Montembeault in particular has struggled, allowing eight goals in his two appearances.

No team in the league could lose their highest-paid player without struggling, but in Montreal’s case, the absence of Price has only been magnified because of the departure of several other key players from last year’s Stanley Cup runner-up. Shea Weber, the team’s captain, is unlikely to ever play again. Phillip Danault, the team’s former top center, is now in Los Angeles. A Stanley Cup winner in Joel Edmundson has been on the shelf since the start of the year. Even the absence of depth players like Tomas Tatar and Jesperi Kotkaniemi has really hurt Montreal’s lineup, despite the attempt to replace them with names like Mike Hoffman and Christian Dvorak.

Hopefully, Price is ready to return to the team in the coming days and can help them dig out of this early-season hole. Even more, hopefully he has received the help he needed during the month away.

Snapshots: Olympics, Blackwell, Crosby

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Each country participating in the upcoming Olympics had to submit their long list of 50 skaters and five goalies by last Friday.  While those lists weren’t made public, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reported in the latest TSN Insider Trading segment that Canada was granted a special exemption to add a sixth goaltender to their list in Canadiens netminder Carey Price who is currently out indefinitely after entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.  The other five goalies are Darcy Kuemper, Carter Hart, Marc-Andre Fleury, Jordan Binnington, and Mackenzie Blackwood.  Canada’s Olympic committee recently announced a vaccination mandate in order to participate which makes Blackwood’s presence on here noteworthy as he is believed to be one of the four NHL players currently not vaccinated.  LeBrun mentions that the Devils’ goalie is working through the process of getting that done which should make him eligible to participate in the tournament in February if selected.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Kraken center Colin Blackwell has resumed light skating as he works his way back from a lower-body injury that kept him out of training camp, notes Marisa Ingemi of the Seattle Times. He’s hoping to avoid surgery but it appears he’s still a few weeks away from returning.  Blackwell was selected back in expansion after picking up 12 goals and 10 assists in 47 games (all career highs) last season with the Rangers.
  • Penguins center Sidney Crosby returned to practice today after missing the last four team skates, relays NHL.com’s Wes Crosby. He indicated that he has yet to go through any physical or faceoff drills which will need to happen before he can return.  Crosby, who is working his way back from wrist surgery that carried a minimum recovery time of six weeks, has missed just more than that and hasn’t pegged a target date for him to make his season debut.

Atlantic Notes: Weber, Murray, Tkachuk, Mrazek

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The NHL has permitted the Canadiens to place defenseman Shea Weber on LTIR, reports Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic in the latest Insider Trading segment.  Shortly following the playoffs, Montreal announced Weber would not play at all this season and may not play again but there were reports that the league wanted to take a closer look at his case since he was able to play for the entirety of the playoffs.  To that end, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told LeBrun that “We are not currently challenging that Shea Weber satisfied the CBA requirements necessary to qualify for LTI”, allowing for the possibility for them to re-evaluate the situation later on.  Montreal will need to make use of Weber’s LTIR assuming goaltender Carey Price returns at some point this season.

More from the Atlantic Division:

  • Senators winger Brady Tkachuk has been ruled out of Saturday’s contest against Toronto, relays Postmedia’s Ken Warren. However, he’s expected to make his season debut either Sunday against Dallas or Thursday against San Jose.  Tkachuk signed his seven-year deal yesterday and will need some time to get up to speed before suiting up.
  • Still with Ottawa, the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve moved goaltender Matt Murray to injured reserve retroactive to October 12th. He has been dealing with a non-COVID-related illness that caused him to miss the opener and now it will keep him out through the weekend at the very least.  The retroactive placement makes him eligible to be activated for Thursday’s contest.
  • Given the fact that groin injuries can be longer-term than expected, Chris Johnston of the Toronto Star suggested in a recent appearance on TSN 1050 (audio link) that it’s unlikely that Maple Leafs goaltender Petr Mrazek will return in the near future. He left Thursday’s game against Ottawa due to the injury.  It sounds likely that a stint on IR is forthcoming which means they will need to call a goalie up from the minors, likely veteran Michael Hutchinson.

Several Players Placed On Long-Term Injured Reserve

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This afternoon, teams were required to submit a cap-compliant opening day roster to the league. This roster is not fixed and can be changed before a team actually takes the ice for their first game, meaning many players who would otherwise be considered on the team were included in a loan to the minor leagues. That “paper transaction” will not have the player actually report to the minor leagues, as he’ll be back up with the NHL team quickly.

The merit behind these transactions in many cases is to maximize long-term injured reserve relief. If necessary, a team attempts to get as close to the $81.5MM salary cap upper limit before placing a player on LTIR in order to receive the maximum benefit. This year has quite a few players hit the board already, which means they will miss a minimum of ten games and 24 days, though some are expected to miss the entire season.

Here are the players who have been placed on LTIR so far today:

D Jake Gardiner (CAR)
D Caleb Jones (CHI)
G Ben Bishop (DAL)
D Oscar Klefbom (EDM)
G Alex Stalock (EDM)
G Carey Price (MTL)
F Gemel Smith (TBL)
D Brent Seabrook (TBL)
F Bryan Little (WPG)

This post will be updated as more season-opening rosters are announced.

Carey Price Enters Player Assistance Program

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The Montreal Canadiens had previously stated that Carey Price was away from the team with a non-COVID illness and would not be able to practice before the start of the regular season. Today, the league announced that Price is voluntarily taking part in the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program. The program is designed to help players and their families with mental health, substance abuse, and other problems.

Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin spoke to the media and explained that he is confident that Price will return to the team at some point this season. Today, he’s thinking of the person, not the goaltender. Price will be away from the team for a minimum of 30 days, and Montreal will go with Jake Allen and Sam Montembeault as the NHL tandem.

Regardless of what has taken him to the program, the hockey world including those of us at PHR wishes Price and his family well.

Snapshots: Johnson, Price, Lehner

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Jack Johnson is in Colorado Avalanche camp on a professional tryout, but that could be converted to an NHL deal before long. Peter Baugh of The Athletic reports that things are “trending in the direction” of a new contract, though nothing has been filed just yet. An injury to Devon Toews has opened a potential spot for the veteran defenseman, who, according to Baugh’s source, had interest from other teams before deciding to head to Colorado.

The 34-year-old is coming off a one-year, $1.15MM deal with the New York Rangers, but is still earning a little more than $916K from the Pittsburgh Penguins in each of the next five seasons, thanks to a buyout in 2020. It’s been a brutal few years for Johnson, who has played in 950 regular season games over a long career but has posted terrible analytics for many of them. In a depth role perhaps he can be effective for the Avalanche, but there’s little chance of him being a real impact player for them at this point.

  • The Montreal Canadiens were hoping that Carey Price would be ready for the start of the regular season after undergoing knee surgery earlier this offseason, but that may not be the case. Head coach Dominique Ducharme told reporters including John Lu of TSN that Price is currently dealing with a non-COVID illness that is keeping him off the ice and the team is “less confident now” that he’ll be ready for the first game. The fact that the Canadiens claimed Sam Montembeault off waivers this weekend makes sense if that’s the case, though Price is still not expected to miss a huge chunk of the regular season schedule.
  • Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner stirred up hockey Twitter this weekend with a series of tweets alleging various wrongdoings across the league and tagged both the NHLPA and NHL to offer to speak directly to them. League commissioner Gary Bettman joined Jeff Marek on Sportsnet radio this afternoon and commented on the situation, explaining that the league will soon speak directly to Lehner to “hear his concerns directly” and then “follow up to see what merit there may be.” So far, the league has not announced any official investigations into any of the concerns raised by the veteran goaltender, which included allegations of team personnel providing benzodiazepines and Ambien to players.

Injury Updates: Lehner, Canadiens, Zamula, Athanasiou, De Haan

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While Robin Lehner left Thursday’s game after two periods due to injury, Vegas head coach Peter DeBoer told reporters, including David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, that the decision to pull him was more precautionary than a sign of a significant injury.  Lehner will be counted to carry on a much bigger workload this season with Laurent Brossoit now the backup for the Golden Knights so it’s certainly understandable that DeBoer erred on the side of caution in Lehner’s first appearance of the preseason.

Other injury news and notes from around the NHL:

  • After stopping on-ice workouts for defenseman Joel Edmundson and goaltender Carey Price, both Canadiens are expected to resume those next week, mentions TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie (Twitter link). Edmundson was listed as day-to-day entering training camp while Price’s availability for the start of the season remains in question following offseason surgery.  Winger Cole Caufield is also close to returning after being shut down following a minor injury during the warmup of an intrasquad game.
  • Flyers defenseman Yegor Zamula will miss the next three to four weeks due to a strain in his hip/groin area, relays Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia. The 21-year-old is one of Philadelphia’s more promising prospects and made his NHL debut with a pair of games last season.  While he had an outside shot at breaking camp with the team, this will basically put an end to that possibility.
  • Kings winger Andreas Athanasiou sustained an undisclosed injury in practice earlier this week but at this point, he’s unlikely to miss the start of the regular season, notes Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider. The 27-year-old had 23 points in 47 games last season, earning him a $2.7MM contract to avoid salary arbitration.
  • Blackhawks defenseman Calvin de Haan revealed to reporters, including Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago (Twitter link) that he played the second half of last season with a fractured tibia. The 30-year-old is entering the final year of his contract that carries a $4.45MM cap hit and will need a much better showing this season to have a shot at coming close to that AAV next summer.  Being healthy now is certainly a step in the right direction on that front.

Montreal Canadiens Announce Several Injuries

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Saturday: Hoffman is expected to miss four weeks, reports TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie.  On that timeline, he will miss the first few games of the regular season.

Thursday: The Montreal Canadiens started their on-ice portion of training camp today, but they were a bit shorthanded. The team announced that Paul Byron, Mike Hoffman, Joel Teasdale, Josh Brook, and Carey Price all failed their physicals as they deal with various injuries. All five players are “most likely” out for the entire camp.

While the news about Price isn’t unexpected, the fact that Hoffman is going to miss all of camp came as a surprise to many after he signed a three-year, $13.5MM contract this offseason. The 31-year-old sniper is dealing with a lower-body injury and it is not clear if he will miss any of the season at this point.

Hoffman was signed to add a little more scoring punch to a group that finished 17th in goals for last season. They bid farewell to Tomas Tatar, Phillip Danault, Corey Perry, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi, but should be getting a full season from young phenom Cole Caufield. One of the most consistent goal-scoring and powerplay threats in the league, Hoffman has scored 186 goals over the last seven seasons, including 17 in 52 games last year.

The Canadiens, who went to the Stanley Cup Finals last season, will have a difficult path to the playoffs this year. The divisions are back to normal, meaning the Atlantic Division is packed with the likes of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, and Toronto Maple Leafs, all teams that finished ahead of Montreal last season. Early injuries can be overcome, but they certainly won’t make things easier.

Snapshots: 2022 Draft, Price, Ylonen

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Though the hockey calendar is starting to get back to normal, it looks like the 2022 NHL Draft may actually still be delayed from its normal late-June timeline. Corey Pronman of The Athletic tweets that the draft is likely to take place in the second week of July next year. Remember, now that the league has agreed to go to the Olympics the season schedule is a little longer than usual, which has seemingly pushed offseason dates back should Pronman’s expectation prove true.

Even though it won’t happen until next July, it’s never too early to start getting excited for the next wave of prospects. Scott Wheeler of The Athletic released his preseason top-32 ranking today, which has Shane Wright in the top spot as expected. Despite the OHL not playing last season, Wright remains the best prospect available in 2022 and is considered a lock by Wheeler at this point to be first off the board. The rest of the list has plenty of interesting scouting information on the top prospects available a year from now.

  • On July 23, the Montreal Canadiens announced that Carey Price underwent knee surgery and would face a recovery timeline of 10-12 weeks. The release included an expectation that he would be ready for the start of the regular season, and though Price has not yet begun skating, he is confident in the rehab he has been doing. The goaltender spoke with Dave Stubbs of NHL.com to discuss the injury and recovery, confirming that it had been a torn meniscus that he was dealing with for a while before the surgery. If all goes well, he’ll be back on the ice soon; his original timeline had him almost exactly synced up with the Canadiens’ season opener on October 13.
  • Speaking of Canadiens games, the organization expects young winger Jesse Ylonen to play in NHL games this season after spending last year with the Laval Rocket. That’s what director of player development Rob Ramage told Eric Engels of Sportsnet, though Ylonen will obviously still have to prove he’s ready to make the jump from Laval to Montreal. The 21-year-old was the 35th overall pick in 2018, had 17 points in 29 games with the Rocket, and actually made his NHL debut by playing 11:23 in the final game of the regular season.

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