Montreal Canadiens trade Carey Price's contract to the San Jose Sharks

The Montreal Canadiens have traded the franchise's all-time wins leader, Carey Price, to the San Jose Sharks, well, technically. Price has not played a game since the 2021-22 season due to injury and has been placed on Long-Term Injury Reserve ever since. The move gives the Canadiens salary cap flexibility, while providing the Sharks with a contract to help meet the Salary Cap floor. The trade is Carey Price and a 2026 fifth-round pick heading to the Sharks for defenceman Gannon Laroque. The Sharks take on the final year of Price’s $10.5 million cap hit, but will only have to pay two million dollars in salary, as the rest of his contract was paid by the Canadiens in bonuses on September 1st.

Laroque is a former fourth-round pick, drafted in 2021 by the Sharks. The 22-year-old defenseman did not play at all last season, as he has dealt with injuries throughout his young career. Mainly undergoing a double hip surgery following the 2022-23 season. He last played in the 2023-24 season, split between the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL and the Wichita Thunder in the ECHL.

This officially ends the Price era in Montreal, even though everyone already knew he would never play hockey ever again. Price leaves Montreal as the franchise leader in wins (361), games played by a goalie (712), single-season win total (44), and many more. His 2014-15 season, where he took home the Vezina, William M. Jennings, Ted Lindsay, and Hart Memorial trophies, will go down as one of their greatest individual goaltending seasons in NHL history. Price goes down as one of the greatest goaltenders in Canadiens history, and will one day have his number hanging from the rafters at the Bell Centre.