Carey Price signed a contract this week that fitted into the salary range that most of us thought be, and, I’m sure, where Canadiens GM Pierre Gauthier wanted to be within his salary cap. The contract calls for two years at an annual cap hit of 2.75 million dollars. (Two years – total of 5.5 Million)

We’ll never know what went on behind the closed doors of negotiation but the arbitrator’s decision in the case of Stanley Cup winning goaltender Antti Niemi probably played into the final contract solution. The award for the Stanley Cup winning Niemi was 2.75 million dollars; the same single season money eventually bestowed on Price. With all due respect for Niemi’s accomplishments, most NHL GM’s including Stan Bowman of the Blackhawks, would take Price ahead of Niemi at 2.75 million. And Price is locked up for two seasons.

So, good for Carey. History has already told him that, no matter how excellant his overall body of work might be, he is in for the odd rough night from the Bell Centre fans.

The Canadiens system has produced six Hall of fame goaltenders running from Georges Vezina to George Hainsworth to Bill Durnan to Jacques Plante to Ken Dryden to Patrick Roy. Every one of them has faced the wrath and impatience of the Montreal fan. 

Price is going to have to face two things when he takes to the ice for his first regular season home game October 13th against Tampa Bay.

First, a high percentage of fans believe the Canadiens traded the wrong goaltender in June and they’re already prone to not let Price forget it. Secondly, those fans who hated the trade have been quick to criticize the approach taken by Price and his agent during what they think was a needless, summer-long contract negotiation. that rumour this week that he wanted three million dollars or he was going to hold out, although false, didn’t help the situation. To the fan base, Price appeared ungrateful.  Winning performances in those two road games (in Toronto and Pittsburgh) to start the season would go a long way to silencing the boo-birds. .

In Montreal not even Vezina Trophy winners and Hall of Famers are safe from the fans who’s credo for 100 years has been, “What have you done for me lately?”.

Canadiens GM Pierre Gauthier announced today the signing

“We are extremely happy that Carey has agreed to pursue his career with the Canadiens. Carey is a key member of our Club. He has proven that he has what it takes to be a good goaltender in the league, and we are confident he will

perform to the best of his abilities for years to come in a Canadiens uniform”, said Canadiens general manager Pierre Gauthier.

Price, 22, completed in 2009-10 his third season with the Canadiens. The goaltender displayed a 13 wins, 20 losses and five overtime losses record in 41 games. He also registered a 2.77 goals against average and a .912 save

percentage. Price was named the NHL Second Star of the Week for the period ending on November 22 and was also the recipient of the Molson Cup for the months of October and November.

Since 2007-08, Price has amassed 60 wins, including four shutouts, in 134 NHL regular-season games. The 6-03, 219-pound goaltender has also maintained a 2.73 goals against average and a .912 save percentage. He also played 15

career playoff games.

In 2008-09, Price was named to the NHL All-Star Game starting lineup. The previous season (2007-08), he

became the first goaltender in the NHL aged 20 or less to win 20 games in a season since 1985-86. In 2006-07, he became the first player in hockey history to be named Canadian Hockey League Goaltender of the Year, World Junior

Championship Tournament MVP (Gold medal with Team Canada) and win the AHL Playoff Most Valuable Player Trophy (Calder Cup with the Hamilton Bulldogs) all in the same year.

A native of Williams Lake, BC, Price was selected in the first round, fifth overall by the Canadiens at the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.

While rumours float through the blogosphere about Carey Price’s negotiation stance as a restricted free agent with the Canadiens, Price continues to compete on the B.C. Rodeo Circuit.

On Sunday Price finished third among 32 entries in the team roping competition at the Smithers Rodeo. Price and his partner Virgil Poppenroth collected 346.08 each. The pair completed the roping event in 9.1 seconds. Chad Evenson and Riley Isnardy won the event in 5.5 seconds. Price has won two events and has this weekend’s third place finish in a limited number of appearances on the B.C. Circuit this summer.  Next BCRA event will be the North Thompson Rodeo Labour Day weekend near Kamloops,  It will be the last event for Price before training camp opens September 17th.

As for the hockey-playing Carey Price, it was floated on the rumour mill that he is looking for a three million dollar contract and if he doesn’t get it, he’ll be a training camp holdout. For once we can’t blame this one on that notorious rumour-monger Eklund.  It came from the CBC’s Michel Godbout who, Tuesday used his Twitter account to post this:

“Exclusive: A very, very reliable source close to Carey Price, said the goaltender is seeking a salary of $ 3,000,000, otherwise he will go on strike (holdout)”.

it doesn’t take long for rumour to become a fact in cyberspace.  The story is now all over the web with no confirmation or attribution outside of Godbout and his “very, very reliable source”.   However during a Sunday interview with CKPG Television of Prince George B.C., Price characterized negotions as “close”.

Here is the CKPG Television feature on Price at the Smithers Rodeo.

Last time a restricted free agent without arbitration rights held out was Brandon Dubinsky of the Rangers last year. He gave up the holdout eight days into training camp, settling for 1.85 million cap-hit a year over two seasons. It should also be noted that a holdout can only last so long. If it goes past December, the player is ineligible to play until the following season no matter what kind of contract he eventually receives. In other words, for the only time in Price’s career, the hockey club holds all of the marbles.  Next year, if he doesn’t sign a multi-year deal, he’ll be eligble for arbitration.

For all of these reasons, the rumour doesn’t hold water.

Results at Smithers B.C. Rodeo August 29th – Courtesy BC Rodeo Association

Under Bob Gainey, the Canadiens expanded their farm system to include partial sponsorship of the Cincinnati Cyclones of the East Coast Hockey League. That partnership ended in July and today the Canadiens announced they, and the Hamilton Bulldogs, will supply players to the league’s Wheeling Nailers.

The ECHL is considered a step down from the AHL and the Canadiens have used the league to season late-developing players such as centre David Desharnais and goaltenders Cedrick Desjardins (traded to Tampa Bay this summer) and Robert Mayer.

The Canadiens were affiliated with the Winston-Salem/Wheeling thunderbirds for nine years in the 80′s and 90′s. The team won the ECHL Championship in 1989. Cincinnati, with help from the Canadiens, won the ECHL Kelly Cup two of the last three season. Goaltenders Desjardins and Mayer were named playoff series MVP’s. Desharnais was ECHL regular season MVP and rookie of the year three seasons ago.

The announcement from the Canadiens Publicity Department:

Montreal Canadiens general manager Pierre Gauthier announced today a new

minor-league player affiliation agreement for the 2010-11 season with the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) Wheeling Nailers.

“On behalf of the Canadiens organization, I would like to thank the Nailers for accepting to affiliate with us. We are looking forward to a strong and long lasting relationship”, said Canadiens general manager Pierre Gauthier.

Under the agreement, the Canadiens have sole discretion on players assigned to Wheeling at all times. The agreement also stipulates that there is no minimum or maximum number of players that can be assigned to Wheeling. The affiliation agreement is shared with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, their affiliate team in the AHL.

Wheeling succeeds to the Cincinnati Cyclones organization as an ECHL team to be part of an affiliation agreement with the Canadiens. Cincinnati won the Kelly Cup twice (2008 and 2010) under their four-year affiliation with the Canadiens.

The Hamilton Bulldogs remain the Canadiens’ main affiliate club in the American Hockey League.

Andrei Markov underwent successful surgery on his right knee on May 14^th.. Apparently the procedure was more successful than even the most optimistic of recovery estimates. At the time, it was predicted Markov would be sidelined six months which meant the best estimate for a return to the lineup was the November 20^th game against Toronto, twenty games into the 2010-1011 season.

 RDS, the Canadiens television rights-holder, reports that Markov is already back on skates,18 days before training camp opens September 17^th. This doesn’t mean the repaired knee is ready to stand up to stops and starts and torque that a hockey player’s knee endures under game conditions but it does signal a return to the lineup much earlier than the original medical estimates.  

Markov suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament when he was checked by the Penguins Matt Cooke in game one of the Eastern Conference semi-final. Most observers viewed Cooke’s check as legal under the rules. Markov tried to come back early in the Eastern final against Philadelphia but failed and his season was shut down. The surgery came immediately thereafter.

 Along with his rehabilitation programme, Markov’s summer has been a busy one.

On July 16^th, in front of judge Gilles Duguay, Markov was one of a group of 32 to become Canadian citizens. Markov also retains his Russian passport as a dual citizen. He has spent his last ten winters in Canada after being drafted by the Habs in the sixth round of the 1987 entry draft.  He played his first game in North America in September of 2000. Markov is entering the final year of a four year 5.75 million dollar contract. According to Markov’s agent Don Meehan, negotiations for an extension have not yet begun.

Markov is a favourite to fill the vacant team captaincy last held by Saku Koivu two seasons ago.  For the first time in the team’s history, the Canadiens did not appoint a captain last season.

All three are in their first “restricted free agent” year, unsigned and looking for major contract increases.. Bobby Ryan of the Anaheim Ducks and Marc Staal of the New York Rangers have proven themselves. Although Carey Price has shown flashes of brilliance, despite being handed the keys to the Canadiens number one goaltending job, he has yet to realize full potential. In each case, this is the one year in the players career where their team can maintain full negotiating control. Next year, if they’re not signed to longer term deals, the players will have the benefit of the salary arbitration process.

Bobby Ryan was drafted second overall in 2005 (behind Sidney Crosby). Price was the 5^th choice (after Jack Johnson-3^rd and Benoit Pouliot-4^th). Marc Staal was taken 11^th  by the Rangers.

After back-to-back seasons of thirty-plus goals, Ryan is looking for something in the neightbourhood of an annual five million dollars in a contract of no more than three years duration. The Ducks have reportedly offered a five year contract at five million a season or four years at a 4.65 million dollar average. With his bonus money, Ryan earned just under two-million dollars last season. The two sides remain stalemated.

In Staal’s case, we’re dealing with a hard-headed cap-strapped general manager in Glen Sather and Staal’s agent Bobby Orr who is fully aware of just how good his client is. Staal is one of the NHL’s best shutdown defensemen. He led the Rangers defence in ice time last season and was plus-11 with a team that didn’t make the playoffs. Staal had no bonus money in last year’s contract, earning 765-thousand dollars. He’s looking for four million on a short-term deal. The Rangers are thinking more in the 2.5 million area. Sather calls the gap in the two side’s thinking “a chasm”.  And Sather can be stubborn.  Last year he wouldn’t budge when Brandon Dubinsky held out until the 8th day of training camp before he was forced to sign a two-year 3.7 million dollar contract.

And that brings us to Price. There are all kinds of things at play here. He finished the season as the Canadiens backup goaltender. The Canadiens annointed him number one by trading away Jaroslav Halak and I’m sure Price’s agent is exploiting that situation. But, on the other side Price and his agent are negotiating in a current climate that has not been kind to goaltenders.  His statistics, although not the be-all and end-all, aren’t great. He was 21st among the league’s goaltenders in save-percentage and 31st in goals against average. And he wasn’t a winning goaltender, a fact that is constantly repeated.  Like the Ryan and Staal camps, Price’s agent is looking for a short-term,one year or two year deal, that won’t eat into the year’s when hel qualifies as an unrestricted free-agent. The Canadiens, despite Price’s unrealized potential, are probably thinking more long-term. History tells us the logical end to this is two years at 2.5 million dollars or so.

The problem all three players face is bargaining power. As restricted free-agents other teams are free to make an offer. The Rangers and Ducks have said they’ll exercise their right to match anything that comes along. The Canadiens would probably do the same thing. Blackhawks defenceman Niklas Hjalmarsson, a late draft pick in 2005, is the only restricted free agent to be tendered an outside offer. San Jose offered him a four-year 14-million dollar contract. The Hawks promptly matched it. At this point in time most teams are locked into their salary caps and are unlikely to be making any outside offers.  Players do have the right to hold out. But if the hold-out goes beyond December he would be forced to sit out the rest of the season.  

There are other unsigned UFA’s out there including Oilers forwards Sam Gagne and Andrew Cogliano, plus Colorado’s Peter Mueller and Chris Stewart, James Neal of Dallas and Niclas Bergfors of Atlanta. The Edmonton Gagner-Cogliano situation is being held up by the team’s need to unload Sheldon Souray’s contract. Mueller’s value is clouded by the severe concussion that ended his 2009-2010 season. The others are simply the same debate as Price/Ryan/Staal. Two sides looking for the right fit.

Enter the 2010 Stanley Cup finalist Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers with Antti Niemi and Michael Creighton and the theory flew right out the window.

And so, apparently, has the respect for the 2010 goaltender free agent market. A total of thirty-nine goaltenders on NHL reserve lists opted for 2010 free agency. Fifteen of them are still without 2010-2011 contracts and four more have headed for Europe including San Jose’s Evgeni Nabokov.  Among the unemployed are Jose Theodore, Vesa Toskala and Ray Emery, all of whom have had multimillion dollar contracts in the past and all of whom will be taking major cuts in pay if they wish to continue in the game. 

This lack of commitment to the goaltending position may be having a profound affect on the Carey Price negotiations.  

The Niemi situation is instructive. As the winning goaltender in the Stanley Cup he exercised his rights to salary arbitration as a restricted free agent. When the arbitrator awarded 2.75 million dollars, the Hawks simply walked. So far Niemi has no other takers at the price.

And of course there’s the Cristobal Huet situation. He has two years remaining on a contract paying him 5.25 million per. The Blackhawks are in the process of shipping him off to Switzerland while absorbing the bulk of his contract on their books but avoiding the salary cap they would take if he remained with the team.

Dozens of others have been forced to take major cuts in pay.

Marty Turco’s contract with Chicago is one year at 1.3 million. Last year Dallas paid him 5.4 million. The best Andrew Raycroft could get was 700 thousand; down from 2.2 million last year. Chris Mason saw his paycheck cut in half. He’ll get 1.6 million this season. Dan Ellis, with whom the Canadiens unsuccessfully negotiated, took a 1.5 million contract with Atlanta, a 25% cut in pay. Martin Biron signed an 800-thousand dollar contract with the Rangers, down from 1.4 million with the Islanders last season. And on it goes.

What we may be seeing is the backlash from some pretty horrible contracts already in existance. Rick Dipietro is entering the 5^th year of a 15 year 67.5 million dollar contract. There are rumours the Canucks are unhappy with Roberto Luongo’s 12 year deal that will give him 10 million this season. The Bruins Tim Thomas has in an unmovable contract that has three years to run. He’ll get six million in 2010-2011. There’s also Miikka Kiprusoff’s 4 year contract with Calgary at 5.8 million per season.

To be sure, there are contracts that return full value. Martin Brodeur, Ryan Miller, Ilya Bryzgalov, and Cam Ward to name four. That St. Louis contract signed by Jaroslav Halak at 3.75 million for each of the next four years seems pretty fair at least at first glance.

It remains to be seen how conditions are affecting the Carey Price negotiations, but you have to believe the depressed market are a factor, especially considering Price’s unproven reliability at this stage of his career.

When Canadiens GM Bob Gainey traded Christobal Huet to the Washington Capitals the main complaint from media and fans alike was the best he could get in return was a second round draft pick. Two years later, the Chicago Black Hawks could get nothing for him.  Looking for relief on their bloated salary cap situation, today shipped him back to Europe.  

A Swiss website (20min.ch) reports that Huet will play for Fribourg-Totteron of the Swiss League. Chicago will still be responsible for most of the 5.65 million dollars for each of the remaining two years on his Chicago contract. However, after Huet clears NHL waivers, the contract won’t be added to their salary cap total.  Fribourg is expected to contribute between 300 and 600 thousand swiss francs (288 to 576,000 US$),towards his contract.

When Gainey traded Huet at the deadline two years ago Huet was on the verge of becoming an unrestricted free agent. He played out the 2007-2008 season with Washington and then got the rich and often regretted four year 22.5 million dollar contract from the Black Hawks. Huet was in the Chicago nets for a total of twenty minutes during the Hawks 22-game march to their championship. He still becomes the first French-born player to have his name etched on the Stanley Cup.

For Fribourg, this is a good deal. Because Huet is married to a Swiss citizen, along with not having to pay his salary, he does not count against the Swiss league quota of four foreign nationals per team.

He played four years with Lugano of the Swiss league before beginning the North American portion of his career.  In Fribourg, he’ll be replacing former NHLer Sebastian Caron who has transfered to the KHL for the coming season. 

Earlier this month, Glen Metropolit signed with Zug of the Swiss League after completing his contract with the Canadiens.

Had the Black Hawks elected to enter the 2010-2011 season with last season’s goaltending, they would have taken up 7.40 million dollars (Huet-5.65m, Antti Niemi-2.75m).  By refusing the arbitration decision on Niemi and jetisoning Huet in favour of Marty Turco (1.3m) and Corey Crawford (800K) the Hawks are able to get five and a half million dollars in cap relief.  Before today’s transaction Chicago was 4.1 million dollars over the limit.

Still in cap trouble are Boston (3.087 million over), Vancouver (2.658 million) and Calgary (2.349 million).  The Canadiens have 4.28 millions in remaining cap space with Carey Price yet to be signed.

Dimitry Chesnokov of Yahoo Sports-Puck Daddy translated an Alex Ovechkin interview conducted yesterday by Russia’s Radio Sport .  Ovechkin is practicing in Moscow in preparation for training camp opening in three weeks.  He also was presented with the Valeri Kharlamov trophy as the best Russian NHL player for the fifth consecutive year.  During the interview he talked about the opening round elimination of his heavily favoured Capitals at the hands of the Canadiens.

“Of course I want to win a Stanley Cup. But apart from me there are other guys who want it too.

“In principle, playoffs is such an unpredictable thing, you never know who will win, who will lose. It looked we were way better than Montreal, but they [beat] us and Pittsburgh. How was it possible to think that someone can beat us, beat Pittsburgh — especially the Canadiens, [the club] people talked about as if they had no team at all? We led 3-1, came to Washington and thought: ‘Well, right now we will…’  And that’s where we were taken ‘cold and hot.’”

 In a separate interview published by tribuna.sport.ru , Ovechkin added more on the seven game loss to the Canadiens.

After the defeat of the Capitals  in the Montreal series, who’s side are you on – the people who supported the dismissal of coach Bruce Boudreau or those who felt the team suffered from bad luck? 

 I am not on the side of those who demanded  Boudreau’s dismissal.  To achieve our goals the team  needs to make a few  minor changes.  We don’t need to start all over again.  The ifiring of the head coach would be just that.  The Capitals were not  lucky in the playoffs.  In the regular season, I scored on 25% of my shots on goal.  In the Montreal series I scored 5 goals on 34 shots.  (In the final three games in the series, Ovechkin scored 1 goal on 24 shots)  It is very difficult to explain.    Take Alex Semin, another striking example.  In 7 games with the Canadiens, he took 40 shots and failed to score. (0 goals – 1 assist) He had no luck.  Just imagine, he was stopped forty times in a row.   I didn’t  think this would ever happen to Semin.   Boudreau tried to make some adjustments to his game plan, iBut it was no secret that not all of our players played to the limit of their capability. 

-     - How do you think about the decision to go with Varlamov in game two of the series after the Capitals lost the opening game of the series with Jose Theodore in goal. 

-          

 Jose had a great first match of the series with the Canadiens, despite the defeat. He could not be blamed for the loss.  He played brilliantly.  But then Theodore missed two quick goals in the next meeting.  Boudreau put Varlamov on the ice in an attempt to change anything, and Washington won the game. It was decided not to change the goalkeeper, all remember the game Varley in the series with Rangers in the spring of 2009.  I do not think that this decision was erroneous.   Washington didn’t lose because of Varlamov or Theodore.  The blame should be placed on the offense. 

. 

Good chess players are able to see six and seven moves ahead as they plan their game. Gauthier may have been doing the same thing in acquiring Finnish-born goaltender Karri Ramo in a trade for Hamilton goaltender Cedrick Desjardins Monday. What the Canadiens GM did was acquire a player who won’t be available to the team until the 2011-2012 season. Ramo is contracted to play the second year of a two year contract he signed last June with Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League.

The expiration of Ramo’s contract will co-incide with the end of a one-year deal the Canadiens GM signed with veteran Alex Auld after he traded Jaroslav Halak to St. Louis. Auld goes out; Ramo moves in.  On the surface at least, this seems to be very solid advance planning.

Still, the trade will raise some questions. The Tampa Bay Lightning will be  coached by Guy Boucher, who coached Cedrick Desjardins last season In Hamilton as he led the entire American Hockey League with a 2.00 GAA while recording 6 shutouts. One could logically assume Boucher had a big voice in the trade talks. By the same token, when it came to the playoff run, after Curtis Sanford Hamilton’s other goaltender, Curtis Sanford, was healthy, Desjardins rode the bench through the Bulldogs’ final eight playoff games. That was not a good sign.

Desjardins is and even six feet tall. Ramo is 6’2”. With new rules regarding goaltender’s equipment about to be embedded in the NHL, many think those extra two inches are going to seem like a yard when it comes to net coverage. That factor was probably the tiebreaker when it came to the decision to trade Halak rather than Carey Price.

Let the second guessing begin.  Like almost all trades, history decides their wisdom or folly.