The Canadiens may be without their star goalie for the 2022-23 season.
Montreal general manager Kent Hughes said on Thursday — after the team acquired forward Sean Monahan from the Flames — that Carey Price’s status for the upcoming season is not looking good due to his injured knee.
“The news about Carey’s knee is pretty discouraging in the sense that there hasn’t been any improvement throughout the the rehab process,” Hughes said. “All last season it obviously continued to create problems for him. This summer he went through the process of a shot to the knee, seeing if that would help. It did not.
“At this point, we don’t expect Carey to be available for the start of the season, quite frankly I don’t know if there ‘s path for Carey to return this season through the rehab process.”
Price underwent surgery on his knee last summer and entered the NHLPA/NHL player assistance program in October for substance abuse. He played five games for the Habs, going 1-4-0 with a 3.63 goals against average and .878 save percentage.
The 35-year-old netminder won the 2022 Bill Masterton Trophy, given to the player best exemplifying perseverance, sportsmanship, dedication to hockey.
He has four years left on the eight-year, $84 million deal he signed in 2017.