Montreal Canadiens: Breaking Down Carey Price vs Jaroslav Halak – The Verdict Is Finally In

Salary Cap Reality and Final Verdict

Let’s test that theory out. Both players were restricted free agents going into the 2010 offseason. After his trade to St. Louis, Halak immediately signed a four year, $15 million contract with the Blues for an AAV of $3.75 million. Price on the other hand inked a new two year bridge deal with the Canadiens for 5.5 million, so a cap hit of $2.75 million. I would say the salary difference there is negligible.

Price signed a six year, $39 million extension with Montreal in 2012, which works out to an annual cap hit of $6.5 million. So for the two years between 2012 and 2014, Price was making $2.75 million more than Halak. This time period includes the season in which the Habs reached the Conference Final and ultimately lost to the New York Rangers after Price was injured in the series opener. Theoretically, the Canadiens would have had Halak and the cap space for an additional $3 million dollar player. Would that have been enough to push them over the top?

Halak found a new home when he became an unrestricted free agent in 2014 and signed a four year, $18 million dollar with the New York Islanders. That translates to a cap hit of $4.5 million. So from 2014 to 2017, the peak Price years, the salary cost difference between the two was just 2 million dollars, so not much difference at all.

The big dollar shift occurs with Price’s next contract, a monster eight year deal for $84 million that kicked in at the start 2018-19. The average annual salary of $10.5 million is the highest in NHL history among goaltenders.

Simultaneously, Halak joined his third team by inking a two year, $5.5 million dollar deal with the Boston Bruins. No longer a true number 1 after playing the 1B behind Thomas Greiss on Long Island for years, Halak accepted a similar role to back up Rask at a cap hit of just $2.75 million. For context, Rask as the starter was making $7 million.

The fact is Price only lasted three years into his massive extension before injuries derailed his career, so the argument that his $10.5 million dollar cap hit was the reason the Canadiens could not build a true Cup contender doesn’t hold water. They made it to the finals in his last full season and would certainly not have done so without Price’s heroics.

The conclusion to this age old debate is that dealing Price and hitching your wagon to Halak would have been a roll of the dice that in hindsight was a risk not worth taking. Building your team around the league’s highest paid goaltender could have worked had the Canadiens management been able to put a better team in front of him.

The final verdict is in. Price was the right choice, he was everything the Habs could have hoped for and more. A generational talent that deserved better, it was the Canadiens that failed him not the other way around.

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