THE $84-MILLION MAN
With a year left on his contract, goaltender Carey Price signs an eight-year extension with the Canadiens worth $10.5 million a year, keeping him under contract until he’s 38 years old. But still no news on free agents Galchenyuk, Radulov and Markov. And
Stéphane Waite believes Carey Price is the best goaltender in the world.
And the Canadiens goaltending coach said Sunday Price can get better.
“He knows that and I know that,” Waite said after the Canadiens announced Price has received an eight-year contract extension worth $84 million. The deal, which begins with the 2018-19 season, makes Price the highest-paid goaltender in NHL history.
“Over the years, he’s been a perfectionist,” Waite said. “He pays attention to the details. He wants to be the best. He works hard and sometimes I have to tell him I don’t want to see him on the ice, he needs a day off.”
Price was in a position to become an unrestricted free agent next July and general manager Marc Bergevin said signing the goaltender to an extension was a priority.
Getting a deal done was made easier because Price said Sunday he couldn’t think of a better place to play than in Montreal.
“I’m ecstatic,” the laid-back Price said from his off-season home in Kelowna, B.C. “This gives me an opportunity to finish my career in Montreal.”
Price has an American Hockey League championship, Olympic gold and a World Cup championship, but as he noted Sunday, his career in Montreal has had its ups and downs. The Canadiens reached the Eastern Conference final in 2014, but their hopes evaporated when the Rangers’ Chris Kreider ran into Price and the goaltender suffered a knee injury.
In 2015, the Canadiens had the best start in franchise history, but another knee injury sidelined him for most of the season. However, Bergevin said the Canadiens weren’t worried about Price’s medical history.
“Our medical people have checked him out,” Bergevin said. “There’s always the risk of injury, but he’s OK.”
And Waite said Price is doing all he can to stay healthy.
“He’s a guy who takes care of himself off the ice,” Waite said. “He takes preventive treatment, stretching every day. He’s on the bike. He eats so well. He rests at home and that’s one of reasons why we’re not afraid of the eight-year contract.”
With the Price deal out of the way, Bergevin said his new priority is to deal with recalcitrant unrestricted free-agents Andrei Markov and Alex Radulov. Bergevin said he has given his final offers and while he is reluctant to discuss details, we can assume he hasn’t offered Markov more than one season. Term is also a factor in the talks with Radulov.
Bergevin has about $15 million in cap space and with Alex Galchenyuk also unsigned, it’s an either/or deal for the Russians.
Bergevin resurrected Radulov’s NHL career when he signed him to a one-year deal last July, but Bergevin said he didn’t expect that to figure into Radulov’s decision.
“If you want loyalty, get a dog,” Bergevin said.
Even without Markov, Bergevin said he felt the Canadiens are improved on defence. The Canadiens pried Karl Alzner away from the Washington Capitals with a fiveyear deal worth about $23 million; picked up David Schlemko from the expansion Vegas Golden Knights and signed former firstround pick Joe Morrow, who has a history with coach Claude Julien going back to their days with the Boston Bruins.
Bergevin said he aggressively pursued a number of unrestricted free agents. He said some of them decided to stay with their current teams, while others decided Montreal wasn’t the right fit. While Alzner said he felt comfortable dealing with Bergevin — “He made me laugh” — the GM’s experience highlighted the difficulty of attracting free agents to Montreal.
Bergevin did add some spare parts as the free-agent market opened Saturday.
In addition to Morrow, he picked 26-year-old centres Peter Holland and Byron Froese and 30-year-old Matt Taormina, who was the top scoring blue-liner and defenceman of the year in the AHL last season.