The Montreal Canadiens are facing a serious salary cap crunch, sitting roughly $6 million over the limit for the 2025-26 season. In a league where financial flexibility is everything, their most valuable trade chip is not a star player, but a contract belonging to a legend who will likely never suit up again. As a key date passes, the Habs are reportedly looking to move Carey Price’s massive deal, a maneuver that is all about the money, not the man.
Why Is Carey Price’s Contract Suddenly in Play?
The Canadiens are reportedly exploring a move of Carey Price’s eight-year, $84 million contract as the calendar flips past a key trigger date. With just one season left at a $10.5 million cap hit, but only $7.5 million in actual salary, the deal is now much more attractive. It includes a $5.5 million signing bonus that was paid on Sept. 1, a timing that often opens the door for cap-floor teams to take on LTIR money at a reduced cash cost.
Montreal’s cap situation makes this more than just speculation. According to PuckPedia, the team is approximately $6 million over the 2025-26 cap, a pressure point that makes moving Price’s contract a logical step.
An industry voice summed up the expectation: “I’ve heard Price’s contract being in play for a while, things should shake loose as of September 1st or soon after… I can’t see the Canadiens going into the season with that anchor on their salary cap.”
“I’ve heard the Canadiens would move Price to line up another trade, It’s simply a question of when.”
With his signing bonus paid, sources expect the Habs to move Carey Price’s contract, freeing cap space for potential in-season trades.
Via @mndamicohttps://t.co/5HK1GvPfiA
— RG (@TheRGMedia) August 31, 2025
This move is purely about cap management, not a talent swap. These are precisely the kinds of transactions that tend to happen after large bonus payments are settled.
So who are the potential partners? They match the usual profile: clubs hovering near the salary cap floor. Teams like the Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks, or Chicago Blackhawks can get a sweetener, like a draft pick, to take on a non-playing, insured contract that provides a cap hit without the full cash expense.
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Pro Hockey Rumors explicitly groups these destinations as plausible, which shows just how thin the market is for traditional hockey trades and how valuable flexible cap slots have become.
What Would a Trade Mean for Montreal’s Fall Plan?
For the Canadiens, the calculus is straightforward. Moving Price’s contract cleans up their books and creates maneuverability for in-season recalls and injury list juggling. It also preserves the option for management to weaponize that cap space later in the season. Plus, it prevents the team from being in an early-season bind by carrying a player on Long-Term Injured Reserve from Day 1, which can hamper the accrual of cap space over time.
In contrast, sending the contract elsewhere, even with salary retention or a mid-round pick as an incentive, would immediately streamline their roster management.
Remembering just how fkn good Carey Price was 🔥#MontrealCanadiens | #Canadiens pic.twitter.com/PzyXus6NvV
— Missin Curfew (@MissinCurfew) August 15, 2025
Price has been on LTIR, but this move is all about leverage. This post-Sept. 1 window is when these deals historically happen because the acquiring teams get better clarity on cash payouts. Sources characterize the current trade environment as “bone-dry,” which raises the acquisition cost but also simplifies the market. The buyers are teams looking to use their cap space, not contenders fishing for top-six help.
However, the Canadiens don’t have to force a trade. They can simply place Price on LTIR to start the season and wait for a better offer to come along. But the combination of the contract structure (one year remaining), the timing (bonus already paid), and the team’s need for flexibility makes now the most rational moment to act.
If the asking price from a trade partner aligns with the market, it would likely cost Montreal a mid-round pick or a B-level prospect. That price would allow the team to exit an awkward cap situation and enter the season with some much-needed breathing room.
