Montreal Canadiens: NHL Players Not Going to Olympics Could Reduce Carey Price’s Trade Value

The Montreal Canadiens were not likely to have a plethora of players heading to the Winter Olympics in China in February.

It is starting to look like no one will be going from the NHL. With the number of Covid-19 cases rising as well as the number of postponed regular season games, the NHL just can’t afford to take off most of the month of February to send its best players to the Olympics.

All of the postponed games in December (and January?) will have to made up down the road. The players owe a lot of money to the owners over lost revenue from not having fans last season as well as a shortened regular season in each of the past two years. So, they will make these games up and the only time to do it is in February.

That means Habs players likely won’t be going to China in about five weeks when the Olympics are scheduled to begin. Of course, there weren’t a lot of Canadiens players likely to make an Olympic roster this year anyway. Nick Suzuki and Jeff Petry were probably on a short(ish) list at the start of the season but the Canadian team is loaded with centres and the USA squad has many defensemen playing better than Petry right now.

Joel Armia, like Petry, has probably played himself off an Olympic roster. Armia is 21st among Finnish players in NHL scoring and that doesn’t even include the handful of players likely to make the team out of Liiga in Finland.

Artturi Lehkonen probably would have been asked to represent Finland, but they do have many options at forward. Still, Lehkonen’s penalty killing and defensive abilities likely would have got him a fourth line spot on the team.

Alexander Romanov would have a chance to play for Russia, but he would definitely fall behind Ivan Provorov, Mikhail Sergachev and Dmitri Orlov on the depth chart. That would leave him battling veterans like Drimtri Kulikov, Nikita Zaitsev and younger blue liners like Artem Zub and Valadislav Gavrikov for a third pairing spot. Plus, Russia likes to bring a number of KHL players so it’s quite possible Romanov would have been left off the roster altogether anyway.

The only player that was really certain of an invitation was Carey Price.

Price had a lot to gain in an Olympic year, with another gold medal performance being another terrific feat in an excellent career. However, with the chances of the players going to the Olympics dwindling, the Canadiens could lose out.

Price has not played a game this season as he battles back from substance use issues and a knee injury. The Canadiens have been awful without him and are clearly in selling mode as we look ahead to the trade deadline. Price’s name has already been out there but trading him is complicated.

Price has four more years after this season one a contract that carries a $10.5 million cap hit. He also hasn’t played since his knee injury and his stint in the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program to help with substance use.

Getting him back to play goal for the Canadiens would be the first step in establishing his current trade value. But even having him stand behind an awful and defensively porous Canadiens squad right now isn’t going to boost his trade value to its highest potential. While facing a barrage of shots and showing he is healthy would be great, interested teams would want a sign Price is ready and capable of carrying a good team to success.

What better opportunity to show that than by tending the twine for Canada at the Olympics?

The last time Price did that was in 2014 and he was sensational, allowing just one goal in the team’s three win-or-go-home medal round contests. He had a 0.59 GAA and a .972 SV% in five games for Canada that year, helping a stacked squad win a gold medal.

It would be difficult to repeat those exact numbers this year, but standing behind a blue line featuring Alex Pietrangelo, Shea Theodore, Cale Makar and a couple of other star blue liners would give Price the chance to excel on an enormous stage once again.

He did that as recently as last summer in the 2021 playoffs when he posted a 2.28 GAA and a .924 SV% while taking the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup Final. A year earlier, Price orchestrated a big postseason upset over the Pittsburgh Penguins and had a 1.78 GAA and a .936 SV% in ten playoff games.

But, an offseason that included surgery and a month long trip to the player assistance program, Price will again have his trade value questioned. He could settle that down a bit with a strong regular season performance for the Canadiens.

But a dominating Olympic performance would have shown other teams Price is ready to carry a team on his back to a Stanley Cup this season.