1. Carey Price
Unlike last week, I had an abundance of options for this week’s talking points, let’s kick them off with a biggie: Carey Price. It is clear to any impartial observer that the Canadiens have not been getting their money’s worth out of the $10.5 million a year deal they gave to Carey Price in the summer of 2017. Price was meant to be the superstar he was in the mid-2010s for at least the first five years of the deal, and he hasn’t even been that in the first 3.
That being said, I don’t think alarm bells should be ringing, because nothing has really changed in Price’s situation in the past two or three years. He was overpaid and inconsistent with spurts of dominant play then, and that’s what he is now. We saw in the bubble what a hot Carey Price can do. When on his game and completely dialled-in he can be the difference between a cup run and an early exit. When not completely dialled-in, however, he makes some phenomenal saves and lets in some atrocious goals.
The Carey Price we’ve seen thus far this season is as bad as it gets with him, and he is bound to improve his play. When? I don’t know. Hopefully sooner rather than later. I’m also quite confident in my prediction that he will end the season near league-average in save percentage rather than the .888 he has put up through these first 12 games.
He has another 5 years left beyond this season on that albatross contract and I’d be very surprised if he finishes the deal on any team other than the Habs unless $4+ million are retained. And a buyout is not an option either, with only $3 million in total savings, it would change virtually nothing from a cap-perspective. Thus, he remains a Hab, to the dismay of many “partisans” it would seem.
I understand the frustration many feel; he has a massive contract and has had a poor start to the season, but don’t forget that just six months ago, the media and fanbase were, in large part, hailing his resurgence and dominance as sustainable. This market has quite drastic mood swings. Despite the current frustration, blaming the former superstar for all of this team’s issues is rather ignorant.
Price was left to dry against Winnipeg on Thursday. The defence had a shockingly bad game. The Jets had a set play that they executed over and over again and the Canadiens either didn’t catch on or failed continuously to stop it. Whenever Winnipeg came off the rush, there would be a trailer – often a defenceman – who would wait for his winger to attack the low slot with the puck before making his way to the high slot where he would receive a pass in acres of space, with no Habs’ defender in sight, and would have the time to pick his shot.
Price faced at least 6 of these high-slot shots where the shooter had loads of time and none went in. Funnily enough, this set-piece turned into two goals, none of which were scored by the trailer. Blake Wheeler scored one and Kyle Connor scored the other. Now, I am in no way saying that Price played well in the ‘Peg; he was one of the worst players on the team. The Nate Thompson goal was inexcusable and the Dubois goal caught him way out of position.
Despite Price’s play, however, the Canadiens set their goaltender up for failure. If Jake Allen were in goal for that game, the Canadiens still would have lost. Carey Price has been a big problem for the Habs in this young season, but there are plenty more problems with this team than his play. Marc Bergevin said it well in his press conference following the firing of Claude Julien; every single player has to be better, the issues are not found in a single player or a single facet of the game.