Sharks Acquire Carey Price's Contract from Canadiens

 The Sharks have acquired goalie Carey Price's contract and a 2026 5th-round selection from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for defenseman Gannon Laroque. 

This is strictly a salary-cap flexibility move for the Sharks to allow for them to move expiring contracts at a later date while staying at or above the cap floor. He has been paid his $5.5 million qualifying offer by the Canadiens on September 1, is entering the final year of his contract, and will only cost the Sharks $800k. For reference, Carey Price is medically retired from the NHL and last played for the Canadiens in the 2021-22 season. During his NHL career, Price was one of the best goalies in the league, accumulating 361 wins, 49 shutouts, a .917 save percentage, and a 2.51 goals against average, along with a Vezina Trophy, William M. Jennings Trophy, Ted Lindsay Award, Hart Trophy, and Bill Masterton Trophy. 

As for the player heading to the Canadiens in this deal, Gannon Laroque has a goal and two assists in 12 AHL games with the Barracuda over parts of the 2021-22 and 2023-24 campaigns, along with two assists in nine ECHL games with the Wichita Thunder in 2023-24. Most recently, he missed all of last season due to injury. 

Overall, I heard some recent rumblings about the Sharks being interested in trading for Carey Price's contract, and with the large amount of cap space the Sharks have heading into this coming season, this should not be all that surprising that the Sharks were able to pull the trigger on this deal. It should also make it easier for top defensive prospect Sam Dickinson and top forward prospect Michael Misa to be in the NHL this coming season as well. 

In other recent Sharks news, former Sharks goalie Aaron Dell has announced his retirement from professional hockey after playing seven seasons in the NHL, and former Sharks Joe Pavelski and Scott Gomez were recently inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. 

Sources: Sharks + SAP Center App, Sjsharksnews via Instagram

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