Canadiens fans rejoice! Your hero will be making his return soon.
Carey Price has been announced to be travelling with the team as they depart towards Newark to face the New Jersey Devils followed by the Maple Leafs in Toronto on Saturday. This is excellent news as it means he is that much closer to returning and is indeed partaking in full morning practices.
Price however will not play in either Toronto or New Jersey the team announced.
Martin St-Louis confirme que Carey Price voyagera avec l'équipe au New Jersey aujourd'hui.
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) April 6, 2022
Martin St-Louis confirms that Carey Price will travel with the team to New Jersey today.#GoHabsGo
Meanwhile Justin Barron, who scored his first NHL goal against the Senators, and Paul Byron will not make the trip as both are out with injuries. Jonathan Drouin will also not make the trip as he is seeking a second opinion on his injured wrist and might potentially miss the remainder of the season.
Justin Barron et Paul Byron n'accompagneront pas l'équipe pour le voyage au New Jersey et Toronto.
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) April 6, 2022
Justin Barron and Paul Byron won’t travel with the team to New Jersey and Toronto.#GoHabsGo
Price has made tremendous progress in the previous weeks and has been following a regular training regiment and practicing with the full squad. Having him travel with the team is good for everyone but especially himself. The toll of travelling, luggage, hotels and being away from home will give his body a good shock to the system and allow him to know if he is indeed 100% ready to go.
It is no stretch of the imagination that we might see Price get the start on Monday as the Canadiens play host to the Winnipeg Jets. Also to take into consideration that the return of Price would mean the end of the season for Samuel Montembeault. It’s no secret that Montembeault has been playing injured for some time now and would likely hit the IR for the remainder of the season and start healing up. Especially since there’s a chance he might need wrist surgery.
For the cap obsessed, the Canadiens would be able to fit Price’s $10.5 million cap hit despite only having $9 million left. If we were to see Price against the Jets for example, there would be 20 days left to the season. Cap hits are calculated with having 186 days of regular season play. Therefore, $10.5 million divided by 186 days times 20 days left = $1,129,032 in cap hit.
The last time we saw Carey Price between the pipes was on July 7th 2021 as the Canadiens fell to the Tampa Lightning in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
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