Carey Price and Shea Weber are cornerstones of the Montreal Canadiens given their ability. Still, there is a desire for both of them to stay and win here.
The Montreal Canadiens are an interesting team in the NHL who have gone down the retool route as opposed to a full rebuild. Some would argue the team is in a rebuild whether Marc Bergevin says so or not. However, there is a mix of different players across ages which lends itself more to a retool or a more popular name: rebuild on the fly. The Habs have their key veterans in Shea Weber and Carey Price, but also young pieces for the future.
The question that’s come around, especially with this year’s performance, is whether it’s time to commit to a rebuild fully. Andrew Berkshire of Sportsnet put out an article a few weeks ago on the idea of the Habs trading Price.
He’ll go down as one of the better goaltenders to play in the modern era of the NHL, and although he’ll have individual hardware to look out after he retires, he’s yet to compete for a Stanley Cup. The closest the team got to that mantle was in 2014, and Chris Kreider has his skate tracks all over that incident.
Weber is another player who will be remembered in the NHL long after he’s gone. His feared shot and committed leadership have made him a favourite amongst hockey minds and fans over his 15-year career. But similar to Carey Price, no Stanley Cup.