Canadiens: Should The Canadiens Just Buy Carey Price Out?

With the whirlwind of rumors linking the Montreal Canadiens to virtually everyone in the NHL as of late, there has been a few bold suggestions thrown into the mix as well.

Ken MacMillan recently wrote an article claiming that the Canadiens’ offseason is pretty much in limbo as long as Price’s health and status is up in the air. He made some valid points as true, it’s hard to move forward when your prized goaltender who happens to hold a $10.5 million cap hit is unsure whether he’ll be able to play another NHL game again or not.

MONTREAL, QC – APRIL 29: Alexander Romanov #27 of the Montreal Canadiens hugs goaltender Carey Price #31 after defeating the Florida Panthers 10-2 at Centre Bell on April 29, 2022 in Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

Scrolling down to the comments section, a reader with the user name “Harold Lobe” took time out of his obviously busy schedule and I copy/paste “Price big deal,buy the money grabbing guy out”.

It wasn’t the first time i’ve seen someone angrily or bitterly slam the keyboard asking for Price to be bought out. The question remains however, is it worth buying him out?

You probably guessed the answer by now, but allow me to do the math for you.

BOSTON, MA – JULY 13: Albert Einstein is depicted as a wax figure at the Dreamland Wax Museum on July 13, 2017 in Boston, Massachusetts. Dreamland Wax Museum is slated to open in late July 2017 and will include all of the United States Presidents, a re-creation of the White House Oval Office, more than 100 figures and is located adjecent to Boston City Hall. (Photo by Paul Marotta/Getty Images) /

In order to understand the complexities of Carey Price’s contract, you have to understand that it’s first and foremost a unique contract to begin with. When he signed on the dotted line that July 2nd, 2017 on an 8 year $84 million deal, he did so knowing he was going to be getting his salary in giant chunks at a time.

The Canadiens, for some reason or another, figured it wise to structure the Anahim Lake, BC native’s contract around heavy signing bonuses. In 8 years, Carey Price’s base salary would be the following:

$2,000,000
$2,000,000
$1,000,000
$2,000,000
$1,000,000
$2,000,000
$2,000,000
$2,000,000

Then here comes the absolute anchor in the contract. The signing bonuses. Which looks like this on an annual basis from years one to eight.

$13,000,000
$13,000,000
$8,750,000
$11,000,000
$6,750,000
$6,500,000
$5,500,000
$5,500,000

Shea Weber’s contract was also extremely heavy on signing bonuses but only for the first 6 of his 14 years of his contract. With low base salaries and zero signing bonuses to give out, his contract makes it a lot easier to trade than Price’s. No team is going to take on a $10.5 million cap hit and pay upwards to $8.5 million in salary to a player that won’t play a game.

MONTREAL, QC – APRIL 29: Current captain for the Montreal Canadiens, Shea Weber #6, steps onto the ice to honour Pierre Gervais in his last game as equipment manager at Centre Bell on April 29, 2022 in Montreal, Canada. In 35 years, Pierre Gervais has worked 3,112 NHL games and has won a Stanley Cup. The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Florida Panthers 10-2. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

So now the question of a buyout comes to play. Is it worth it?

There are 4 years and $7 million of base salary left on Price’s contract along with $24.25 million in signing bonuses attached. At 2/3 buyout ratio, The Canadiens would be attached to a buyout for 8 years. Remember that you can’t save any money on signing bonuses so the savings only apply on the base salary.

Here’s what the cap hit would be for the next 8 years and in brackets what the Canadiens would be saving in cap space)

$10,083,333 ($416,667)
$9,083,333 ($1,416,667)
$9,083,333 ($1,416,667)
$9,083,333 ($1,416,667)
$583,333 (-$583,333)
$583,333 (-$583,333)
$583,333 (-$583,333)
$583,333 (-$583,333)

So to answer the question once and for all, is it worth it? Absolutely not. Putting a player on the Long Term Injury Reserve would allow the Canadiens to use the salary throughout the season, all while being cautious in the offseason while approximately 75% of his cap space will be counted before it goes back on LTIR. Think of it as having a doctor’s note renewed while you’re on salary insurance at work.

The Canadiens are just going to have to tough if out for another four seasons and work some cap magic until Price’s contract runs out and he finally signs his retirement papers.

Given that there’s nearly $20 million in guaranteed salary on the table, the chances Price pulls a Roberto Luongo and retires before the end of his contract are slim to none.

Sorry, Harold. Can’t do it.

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