Stu Cowan: Carey Price’s return to Canadiens remains uncertain

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We now know for a fact that NHL players will not participate in the Beijing Olympics in February due to concerns about COVID-19.

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The big question for Canadiens fans remains when will Carey Price play again?

Price has yet to play a game this season after undergoing surgery in July to repair a torn meniscus in his knee. After the surgery, the Canadiens said they hoped Price would be ready to start the regular season, but that was before he entered the NHL / NHLPA player assistance program in early October for substance use issues.

Five months after knee surgery, Price still hasn’t practiced with his teammates.

“He’s continuing his treatments,” Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme said Monday when asked about Price’s condition. “You should meet, or rather you were supposed to meet with your doctor when we were scheduled to travel to New York (last week). Obviously, that situation changed. He may not have made the trip anyway due to the (COVID-19) outbreaks within the team and across the league as well.

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“But that was the plan originally, so he will meet virtually with his doctors,” Ducharme added. “And after that, we will continue to assess the situation and continue his treatments to help him return. We said that it would be difficult to give a precise date for their return, that there would be steps to follow and each step would be difficult to estimate as to how long it would take. You’ve been making progress on the steps, but you certainly still have work to do. Then we’ll see. We also need to listen to the doctor’s advice and work with therapists and so forth, so in that sense he’s been following his plan. “

Price hasn’t spoken to the media this season, but you have to think that the 34-year-old would have loved to play in the Olympics once again after helping Canada win a gold medal at the Olympics. 2014 in Sochi. 5-0 record with an average of 0.59 goals against and a save percentage of .971. The NHL did not participate in the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

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Team Canada was definitely interested in getting Price back if he was healthy in time for the Beijing Games.

“I personally had a conversation with him and it was more simply, ‘Take your time. We’re not going anywhere. ‘ Team Canada general manager Doug Armstrong told The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun last week after it was decided that NHL players would not go to the Olympics.

“‘What you’ve accomplished in your career and what you’ve accomplished in the playoffs indicates that you are the alpha male for Hockey Canada goalkeeping assist,'” Armstrong added of his conversation with Price. “’And we’ll give you all the time you need. We support you in any way on and off the ice. ‘ And I left it like that. “

Price was one of six goalkeepers that Team Canada included on its long Olympic roster in October, along with Marc-André Fleury, Darcy Kuemper, Jordan Binnington, Carter Hart and MacKenzie Blackwood.

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As LeBrun wrote, it was clear that Team Canada was going to “do everything it could” to make room for Price on the Olympic roster if they felt he was ready to play.

You have to think that Price would really push himself into the New Years, hoping to play a few games for the Canadiens to show that he could be ready for the Olympics.

Now that the NHL has pulled out of the Olympics and the Canadiens are already out of the playoff race, there’s no reason for Price to try too hard. He should take as much time as necessary to ensure that he is physically and mentally prepared before returning to the Canadiens.

“The Olympics were one thing,” Ducharme said of Price. But wanting to play in the Olympics or power is something else. I think Carey also cares as much about the Olympics as he is about our team. It’s a question of him being in good shape again and ready to play. “

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The Canadiens’ situation took another blow Monday when Jake Allen was listed on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list and Sam Montembeault had his first start since November 16 on Tuesday night in Tampa.

Price has four more seasons left on his eight-year, $ 84 million contract with an annual salary cap of $ 10.5 million and it certainly looks like the Canadiens are heading for a rebuild under Jeff Gorton, the new executive vice president of hockey operations.

It seems unlikely at this stage in his career that Price, who has a full no-move clause in his contract, will want to stick around for a rebuild. However, his contract will not be easy to trade (the Canadiens would probably have to eat half) and Price will also have to show that he is still capable of playing at the level he did during the playoffs last season.

At this point, that’s the only reason that makes sense for Price to push to get back to the Canadiens ASAP.

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