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Carey Price Waives NMC For Purposes Of Being Exposed In Expansion Draft

Would the Seattle Kraken do it?

by Chris Wassel

July 17, 2021

in Expansion Draft, Featured, Montreal Canadiens, NHL, Seattle Kraken

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The Jake Allen Protection Plan Starring Carey Price

Saturday was a chaotic day in the NHL and yet apparently this evening, it was not over. This late-breaking news roared in like a lion.

Step 1. Price is now exposed. And very few #habs observers saw that coming. https://t.co/aJfcok9afF

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Again, there are still plenty of questions but the truth is the truth. Carey Price waived his no-movement clause to be exposed in the expansion draft. It does not mean Seattle would automatically take the goaltender

That is what we call a bit of a game-changer. This was all to protect Jake Allen from getting claimed by Seattle. It is a typical Marc Bergevin move in the sense that Bergevin is gambling that Ron Francis will not take on the Price deal.

For those wondering, CapFriendly has this listed out pretty clearly. So, let’s go over this quickly.

Price is owed a total of $13 million next year. This is less expensive than the first two years of the deal which were $15 million each in all. By the way, every single season most of Price’s salary is in the form of a signing bonus.

His base salary is never higher than $2 million. So these balloon err bonus payments will be paid in September. That is what keeps things interesting. Does Seattle take the bait and pay that $13 million now? Keep in mind, the actual salary goes below his AAV for the final four years. That looks like this.

2022-23: $7.75 million
2023-24: $8.5 million
2024-25: $7.5 million
2025-26: $7.5 million

Now, those numbers do not look quite so bad. It would not be completely crazy for Ron Francis to sit there on Wednesday and hit the shiny, red button. Taking Carey Price would be a good foundation for his Seattle Kraken.

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The Montreal Canadiens gamble and WHAT IF?

Just say the unthinkable happens and Ron Francis actually does it. What happens then? The Montreal Canadiens would have cap space to go after someone younger — maybe even a Philipp Grubauer perhaps. Grubauer likely goes back to Colorado but again anything is possible.

Montreal could take a look at Robin Lehner or Marc-Andre Fleury may be and yes one player has to be left unprotected. Again, options definitely exist.

After all, few pundits saw this one coming. This one makes Seattle think and think hard. Now, come Wednesday, we are going to know what the fate of Carey Price is. Look he is close enough to Seattle and his wife is as well. Price likes the area and so again, does his wife.

Also, Price cannot be flipped by the way if Seattle does claim him. It’s an obvious but important detail.

Montreal faces a crazy 72 hour period full of nerves, anxiety, and more.

If you are Marc Bergevin, I want what he needs to drink to get through this one. Not many get this bold. If Bergevin gets away with this one, then wow!