Bad news for Kent Hughes and the Canadiens in the Carey Price file

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Jeff Drouin
July 1, 2022 (5:28 PM)

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In the last few days, as we told you at the beginning of the week, goaltender Carey Price took part (along with Brendan Gallagher and Joel Edmundson) in a softball tournament held in Kelowna, British Columbia.

The event, organized in part by former Canadian defenceman Josh Gorges, raised $242,000 for the Kelowna General Hospital Foundation.

On the other hand, in the framework of this beautiful event, the number 31 answered some questions of the journalists and he dropped a rather important information.

Montreal Canadiens GM Kent Hughes was very clear at his most recent press conference. He absolutely wanted an answer from Carey before the draft (ideally), if not, before the opening day of the free agent market.

We can understand Hughes. This is absolutely essential information and "game changer" for him, in order to know if he can spend the extra 10 million, or not (if Carey comes back to play, the GM must keep the necessary space under the salary cap, but if Carey does not come back to play, Hughes earns 10 million on his payroll)

It makes a huge difference. If Price doesn't come back and is placed on the long-term injured list, it would allow Kent Hughes to acquire or sign a big player.

Anyway, Hughes just got some bad news.

In an interview this past weekend, goaltender Carey Price mentioned that he will now wait until the end of the summer before deciding if he will be able to continue his NHL career or not. This is clearly not what Kent Hughes wanted, as he openly admitted that he hoped to get a clear answer before free agency market opened.

He won't get his clear answer after all, which will undoubtedly handcuff him, in the coming days and weeks.

Are you surprised to hear this? Are you optimistic to see Carey Price in uniform, for the Tricolore, next year? More details to follow!