The Montreal Canadiens are certain to have a very busy offseason. Preparing for the 2022-23 season is going to include a lot of moving parts between now and October.
The team just finished 32nd overall in the standings and don’t want to finish there again. Or, maybe they do for one more year?
A case could be made that the team can’t afford to sit at the bottom of the standings again and need to try to get as close to the playoffs as possible. That was young players would have a taste of a playoff chase. The other side of the coin says the team is far from competing and needs to try and get another top three pick in 2023 to build a terrific team.
Before the team can take strides towards the playoffs, or admit the playoffs aren’t happening in 2023 and commit to a rebuilding season, they need the answer to one enormous question.
Will Carey Price play next season?
We saw what happens when the team goes from having Price in net on a regular basis to not having him at all. It was literally the difference between playing in the Stanley Cup Final and finishing last overall.
Well, Price maybe wasn’t the only reason for that precipitous drop, but he was the biggest reason. Losing Shea Weber and Phillip Danault definitely hurt as well, but not having their starting goaltender who has carried the team for a decade was something the team couldn’t overcome.
Here we are almost a full year after the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, and we still don’t know how the injury Price was dealing with at that time will allow him to play next season. He was in a constant state of questionable last season as he tried to battle back from knee surgery.
Price finally returned in the middle of April, but only played five games all season and needed to be shut down for a few games before playing the season finale. After the season, he commented that his knee wasn’t in a place where he could play a full schedule of games and he needed it to improve before he could play in 2022-23.
The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is given to the NHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.
— NHL (@NHL) June 3, 2022
Carey Price took the opportunity to thank the many people in his life that supported him this season. #NHLAwards pic.twitter.com/LxVdtwYws0
There has been little to update since then, as the only public comments about Price’s status are that there is no answer yet to whether or not he can play.
If he, and the doctors, determine he is good to go for training camp, there is a small chance that the Canadiens could contend for a playoff spot in 2022-23. A very small one, but if Price can play 50 games and Jake Allen takes the other 32, the team would have reliable netminding all year.
There were only eight good teams in the Eastern Conference this season, and two of them could take a big step back next year. The Boston Bruins will not have Brad Marchand or Charlie McAvoy to begin the year because of surgery. Patrice Bergeron is a free agent who could sign elsewhere or retire and David Pastrnak is entering that awkward final season of his contract and could be traded if he doesn’t re-sign.
David Pastrnak's agent JP Barry on Tuesday threw some cold water on a report that stated that the Bruins' star winger may want out of Boston. https://t.co/bAGwkbnsWp
— Boston Herald Sports (@BosHeraldSports) June 8, 2022
The Pittsburgh Penguins might be heading into next season without Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang. Filling those two enormous holes in the lineup will be extremely difficult.
That would open up two playoff spots in the conference with a bunch of mediocre teams trying to claim them. With the first overall pick on the team, and a healthy Price in net, next year’s Habs could be much improved.
Of course, if Price announced he can’t play, the team is going to struggle. Their only real chance to compete for the playoffs is if Price returns for the season and plays at the top of his game. Otherwise, they are destined for another finish at the bottom of the standings.
With the Stanley Cup Finalists decided, the offseason is on the horizon. If Price announced he will be back, the Canadiens could look to add some talent and try to steal a playoff spot from the Bruins.
If Price announced he is retiring, the team has little option but to embrace another rebuilding season. It might be for the best going forward, since this team might not be able to compete even with a healthy Price in the lineup right now.
"I wish I felt better about the situation, but I don't."
— Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) June 4, 2022
Carey Price says he is getting prepared as if he will be playing next season, but he doesn't have much new to offer in terms of news on his knee and, basically, is still in wait and see mode.
The Canadiens may be put into an odd spot if Price’s status remains unclear as the NHL Draft and free agency approach. It wouldn’t make sense to sign a big free agent and trade for a veteran player only to find out a week later Price is out for the season.
So, if Price announces he will play, I’d expect the Habs to keep Jeff Petry and try to sneak into the playoffs. If Price can’t play, a couple of veterans could be traded as well to “embrace the tank” as they say.
If Price’s status is still not updated in a month, the Habs have no choice but to assume he won’t be able to help much, if at all in 2022-23 and prepare for another rebuilding season.
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