A Winning Habit
Fansided

Reasons for Optimism Abundant for Habs Despite Playoff Exit

By Sebastian High

MONTREAL, QC - NOVEMBER 01: Jesperi Kotkaniemi #15 of the Montreal Canadiens celebrates a victory with goaltender Carey Price #31 against the Washington Capitals during the NHL game at the Bell Centre on November 1, 2018 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Washington Capitals 6-4. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - NOVEMBER 01: Jesperi Kotkaniemi #15 of the Montreal Canadiens celebrates a victory with goaltender Carey Price #31 against the Washington Capitals during the NHL game at the Bell Centre on November 1, 2018 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Washington Capitals 6-4. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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MONTREAL, QC – NOVEMBER 20: Montreal Canadiens  (Photo by Vincent Ethier/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Ever since the monumental trade that was PK Subban for Shea Weber in 2016, fans and media have been speaking of “the window” in which Carey Price and Shea Weber will both still be near the top of their respective games. In the past year, more than just a few articles have been published stating that the window is closing if not already closed. Sure, Weber dominated for the first 35 games, but he struggled from that point onward, offensively at the very least.

It was said that Carey Price no longer seemed to be excellent consistently; he played badly in 2017-18 sporting a .900 SV%, he rebounded the following season with an alright .918 SV% but fell back once again this past season with a .909 SV%. Sure these numbers aren’t terrible, but a goalie being paid $10.5 million every year had better be among the very best in the league, which Price hasn’t been statistically since 2016-17.

While these are truly excellent points, especially considering Price’s price, I have always put more weight on what the NHL players think than many others. It is my belief that players who actually compete against every top goaltender in the league would not say that Carey Price is the league’s best goaltender if they did not truly believe it.

Both the NHLPA and The Athletic have held player polls over the past few years. Carey Price has been voted the top goaltender in the league in all three years in which the NHLPA has conducted its survey, and has been voted the goalie you wish you had in net for Game 7 of a Stanley Cup Final on The Athletic’s poll in both of the past two seasons.

This season, Price received 33% of the votes on The Athletic’s poll and received 41.55% of the NHLPA survey’s votes. For added context, The Atheltic’s poll consisted of 392 players, while the NHLPA’s consisted of nearly 600. Speaking of The Athletic, their poll also had 10% of the votes for best defensive defenseman going to Shea Weber, good for second overall, behind Victor Hedman.

So, Carey Price clearly remains the best goaltender in the league according to the players that have to face him night-in, night-out. Of course, respect for past achievement plays a part in these votes, but if it is easier to get the puck past Price than many other goaltenders in the league, as many in the media have stated over the past few years, why is it that nearly a majority of players in this league still see him as the most difficult to beat?

The same goes for Weber, he is still respected in this league. This postseason has simply shown to fans and the media what the players clearly already knew: Carey Price and Shea Weber are still dominant players in this league.

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