The Montreal Canadiens have signed goaltender Carey Price to an eight-year contract extension worth $84 million. The deal comes with a cap hit of $10.5 million per season and was originally announced by Eric Engels and was soon confirmed by the Canadiens on Twitter. Price has been with the Canadiens since was originally drafted fifth-overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft and has been widely considered one of the best, if not the best goaltender in the entire world over the last few seasons.
Canadiens sign goaltender Carey Price to an eight-year contract extension.
DETAILS-> https://t.co/pWg1hS1i3B.
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) July 2, 2017
Since joining the Canadiens in the 2007-08 regular season, Price has recorded a wins-loss record of 270-175-55 in 509 games. He has a 2.40 goals against average in his career to go along with a .920 save percentage and ranks fourth all-time in Canadiens history with an impressive 39 shutouts.
The winner of the multiple individual accolades throughout his career, Price was awarded the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the AHL playoff MVP for his stellar performance in 2006-07. In 2014-15, Price broke out with one of the best individual performances by a goaltender in recent memory. Compiling a record of 44-16-6 with nine shutouts, a 1.96 goals against average and a .933 save percentage, Price went on to win the Vezina Trophy – awarded to the league’s best goaltender, the William M. Jennings Trophy – awarded to the goaltender (or goaltenders) with the fewest goals allowed, the Hart Memorial Trophy – awarded to the player deemed most important to his team’s success and the Ted Lindsay Award which is awarded to the league’s Most Outstanding Player as voted on by the player’s peers on the NHL Players Association.
Vezina Nominee in 2016-17
a Vezina-finalist for the second time in his career in 2016-17, Price compiled a record of 37-20-5 with a goals against average of 2.23 and a save percentage of .923. When looking at the Canadiens success in recent years, it’s clear that the team runs through Price. Without their franchise netminder manning the crease, the team has struggled mightily. While this contract now makes Price the highest player on the Canadiens roster as well as the highest paid player in team history, it’s clear that the Canadiens felt it would be better to potentially overpay him with both salary and term than watch him leave the team in a few years.
At 29 years old, Price is still right in the prime of his career as far as goaltending goes. Despite some injury concerns, there are few players in the game today that can change a game, or a season the way Price can when he suits up for his team. A player who loves to win and gives his all to his team, Price is now in a position to spend his entire career with the team that drafted him in 2005. A team that Price is eager to play with to compete for a Stanley Cup Championship, returning it to a city that has won 24 Cups in history but has failed to do so since the 1993 season.