Did Carey Price live up to his 8 year, $84M contract?

[BlueSeal]

The Habs management wasted Price's time in Montreal and Carey still led the team to the Finals.

 

[viceroy]

Based on all of this, a $7.5m cap hit would have still been a pretty massive overpayment, even with his Covid Cup play.

Why do the Habs get labeled with this? Not the team, TBL, that won. Anywho anyone that pulls that term is just trying to demean another team's accomplishment as if every other team in the NHL wasn't in the same boat.

You really still think that was on purpose? Yikes

Just FYI if you're too young to know Kreider was known for his antics and hurt more than one goalie. He eventually wised up but he's still a shiat weasel in my book.

Looking forward to spending way too much for tickets when his number is put up in the rafters at the Bell Centre.

I love Pricer too but he shouldn't have his jersey retired. If he can't have his picture up in the dressing room then no way he gets the rafters.

p.s. The rules to getting your picture in the Canadiens' dressing room IIRC are: Play 2 full seasons on the Habs, Win a Cup for us and be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. I think the last guy to get in was Chris Chelios.

Having watched Roy and Price’s entire careers, I’d actually take Price as the better goalie.

Not for me, I was around for both. Price was a great goalie, Roy was fricking magic.

 

[Fire Sweeney]

There are 2 ways in which Price didn't live up to his contract that haven't been mentioned yet; his alcoholism and his refusal to learn french.

 

[chris kontos]

Being the greatest hockey player in the history of the game of course he did

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Not for me, I was around for both. Price was a great goalie, Roy was fricking magic.

Roy was great in two championship runs with Montreal. But he didn’t have to beat a superior team in either run. All the clubs we faced were evenly matched or worse. There was the 89 run where we lost to a superior Calgary team and he was good in that run too. And he bolted as soon as Montreal stopped icing powerhouse clubs.

Outside of those though, he wasn’t just mediocre, he was downright bad a lot of the time. Really inconsistent goalie. Price in the other hand consistently beat better teams in the playoffs. He was killer and consistently good. It’s just a shame he played on such mediocre/crap teams.

 

[LPHabsFan]

Price was part of a long list of players who signed contracts with teams who were in a lose - lose situation.

If they give him the deal, people will criticize the team for giving a long ass contract to a player who we knew would never live up to it, especially in the last 3 - 4 years.
* I know with Price specifically it was a bit longer than that but I'm going based off of expectations at the time of the deal.

If they don't give him the deal, people will criticize the team for being too cheap or scared or something, and especially if the replacement goalie isn't good, they'll always say "look how garbage X is, they should have kept Price."

As I said, there's a long list of players who fit a similar situation. There was no other good choice than but to sign the deal.

 

[PaulD]

aside from the troll takes for the usual cast of muppets, I would say objectivally no.
That being said, the culprit in all of this is Bergevin (as usual).
He built a team entirely around him, came to depend on him far too much and then made the idiotic, fatal error of never actually finding him a capable backup - until Jake allen who carried the Habs for a good portion of the covid cup season until Jesus Price was resurrected for the playoffs, thus flushing the leafs down the toilet. It was 3-1

Imagine giving CP31 all that money and then not investing in a backup that could play 35 games a year, thus prolonging his career.
Bergevin was a moron and didn't understand the concept of load management for a star goalie.

And there was a whole lot more MB didn't understand

 

[LPHabsFan]

Roy was great in two championship runs with Montreal. But he didn’t have to beat a superior team in either run. All the clubs we faced were evenly matched or worse. There was the 89 run where we lost to a superior Calgary team and he was good in that run too. And he bolted as soon as Montreal stopped icing powerhouse clubs.

Outside of those though, he wasn’t just mediocre, he was downright bad a lot of the time. Really inconsistent goalie. Price in the other hand consistently beat better teams in the playoffs. He was killer and consistently good. It’s just a shame he played on such mediocre/crap teams.

There were no superior teams in 86 and 93 than the Habs. You know how I know this? Because the Habs were the ones left standing at the end of it all.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Nope

 

[UED]

no, as a habs fan i can tell you that as soon as he got the contract he stopped trying. i never blamed him, it wasn't his job to be the wayne gretzky of goalies and carry drouin and galchenyuk to stanley cups. that was the GM's job and he never did his job. my guess is that carey looked at the team and realized it was hopeless so he signed a retirement contract and that was that for his career.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

There are 2 ways in which Price didn't live up to his contract that haven't been mentioned yet; his alcoholism and his refusal to learn french.

Links to Price refusing to learn French awhile living in a French first language city?

 

[Dirty Dog]

He was one of the best of his time for sure. Amazing player. I don’t think he lived up to his contract given his injuries.

Mentioning him with the big three of goalies is wild. Tiers between the two

 

[Bouboumaster]

whatever helps you sleep at night

If only those bias glasses weren't glued into your face, you'd see reality like everybody else too

 

[habsterr]

No, great goalie though and was the best player in the world for 1 year.

 

[viceroy]

There are 2 ways in which Price didn't live up to his contract that haven't been mentioned yet; his alcoholism and his refusal to learn french.

He also smoked. LOL Anywho to the best of my knowledge he did have an addiction to pain killers due to his injuries like A LOT of other pro athletes.

As for the French thing I've heard that most long term Habs players have learned French. Heck Saku Koivu was known to carry on conversations in French in private but would never agree to interviews in la langue de Moliere. He had been advised to avoid them so as not to misunderstand questions or offend with a misconstrued answer. Nick Suzuki is also said to study it but I also believe he will avoid those interviews for the same reasons.

 

[PaulD]

Roy was great in two championship runs with Montreal. But he didn’t have to beat a superior team in either run. All the clubs we faced were evenly matched or worse. There was the 89 run where we lost to a superior Calgary team and he was good in that run too. And he bolted as soon as Montreal stopped icing powerhouse clubs.

Outside of those though, he wasn’t just mediocre, he was downright bad a lot of the time. Really inconsistent goalie. Price in the other hand consistently beat better teams in the playoffs. He was killer and consistently good. It’s just a shame he played on such mediocre/crap teams.

Price beat The Bolts in 2014 ( not a superior team)

Roy was great in two championship runs with Montreal. But he didn’t have to beat a superior team in either run. All the clubs we faced were evenly matched or worse. There was the 89 run where we lost to a superior Calgary team and he was good in that run too. And he bolted as soon as Montreal stopped icing powerhouse clubs.

Outside of those though, he wasn’t just mediocre, he was downright bad a lot of the time. Really inconsistent goalie. Price in the other hand consistently beat better teams in the playoffs. He was killer and consistently good. It’s just a shame he played on such mediocre/crap teams.

Price beat Bruins in 08. Then had a melt down in the next round to Philly.
Got Swept by Bruins in 09.
Lost job to Halak in 2010.
Price beat the Bolts and Bruins in 2014.
Beat the Sens in 2015
Beat the Leafs, Jets, Knights in a Covid tournament. 2021 Blown out in the final to Tampa.

Roys play off record is common knowledge. Speaks for itself. Careys pales in comparison.
Roy was the superior Canadiens goalie.
No doubt.

 

[PaulD]

To the OP's question, Price was never able to fully earn his contract, due to injuries. You could understand why he got the deal – he had been one of the most dominant goalies in the league for 7/8 years. Unfortunately, by the time he signed it he was missing more and more games.

He still remained dominant in the playoffs until the end, and you could argue those results made everything else worthwhile. Plus, he was on LTR.

no he wasn't "one of the most dominant for 7/ 8 years before that".
2014 ( after Olympic Gold) and 2015 he was lights out. Then he got injured early 2016.
Was inconsistent 2008 - 2013. Losing starters job end of season and play offs in 2010 to Halak.

 

[Bleedred]

Most of these types of contracts are usually not lived up to and are given based off the success they've had and sort getting a return on being underpaid when performing at their peak on their previous contract. I think the same could be said for Bobrovsky, who certainly hasn't played like a $10+ million dollar goalie on his current contract, but it isn't all bad either and probably worth it, as the Panthers did make two finals runs and have one cup win with him so far. This is what happens with contracts that begin when a guy is 31 years old.

I'm not sure if Price lived up to it or not, but he didn't live through it, as he probably won't have played for the entire last half of it? Does his contract expire in 2025 or 2026?

Anyway, they did get a finals run out of it with a team that was pretty bad, with a stupid head coach and GM, and who would go on the finish dead last the next year with him not even debuting that season until I think April? Then never playing again. I honestly think that was the worst cup finalist in....I can't remember how long? At least since the 2006 Oilers and I'm not even sure the 06 Oilers or 02 Canes were actually worse. The 06 Oilers were probably better, aside from in goal.

I can't stay it was all bad, other than the fact that the Habs weren't really a good team in the years he did play.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Price beat The Bolts in 2014 ( not a superior team)

Price beat Bruins in 08. Then had a melt down in the next round to Philly.
Got Swept by Bruins in 09.
Lost job to Halak in 2010.
Price beat the Bolts and Bruins in 2014.
Beat the Sens in 2015
Beat the Leafs, Jets, Knights in a Covid tournament. 2021 Blown out in the final to Tampa.

Roys play off record is common knowledge. Speaks for itself. Careys pales in comparison.
Roy was the superior Canadiens goalie.
No doubt.

Different situations.

Roy was on teams that had multiple Selke winners and nominees. Multi Norris winners. A Jacques Lemaire style checking system and a good offense. Carey Price was on trash teams.

Yes, Price took longer - again though much of that is because those clubs were putrid. Once he established himself though he had a brilliant run and was really consistent in the postseason. Roy was replaced in 87 by Hayward. Lost to the Bruins in the first round in 88 (first time in 30 years), had a strong run in 89. Shat the bed three straight years vs Boston. By spring of 93 there was a poll in the Gazette with the majority of readers wanting him traded.

Patrick Roy is a spectacular goalie. One of the best ever. And - as I said - will go down that way. A better career than Carey Price. But he played on much, much better teams. And in his two wins in Montreal, he had very lucky easy schedules. That's just a fact.

Swap their teams and Price has the cups with Roy getting none.

 

[IWantSakicAsMyGM]

Why do the Habs get labeled with this? Not the team, TBL, that won. Anywho anyone that pulls that term is just trying to demean another team's accomplishment as if every other team in the NHL wasn't in the same boat.

Tampa had been to the Conference finals three times in the 5 years before Covid, getting to the Cup Finals once. And they won the President's trophy in 2018-19, and were comfortably in a playoff spot when the league shut down due to Covid. The Bolts weren't a 12th seed that got gifted playoff games because the league didn't want to punish teams that were actually in the wildcard race, nor did they sneak into the playoffs the next year by being the least crappy of the 4 bottom feeders in the only division with 7 teams. That's why the two teams get treated differently.

 

[PaulD]

Different situations.

Roy was on teams that had multiple Selke winners and nominees. Multi Norris winners. A Jacques Lemaire style checking system and a good offense. Carey Price was on trash teams.

Yes, Price took longer - again though much of that is because those clubs were putrid. Once he established himself though he had a brilliant run and was really consistent in the postseason. Roy was replaced in 87 by Hayward. Lost to the Bruins in the first round in 88 (first time in 30 years), had a strong run in 89. Shat the bed three straight years vs Boston. By spring of 93 there was a poll in the Gazette with the majority of readers wanting him traded.

Patrick Roy is a spectacular goalie. One of the best ever. And - as I said - will go down that way. A better career than Carey Price. But he played on much, much better teams. And in his two wins in Montreal, he had very lucky easy schedules. That's just a fact.

Swap their teams and Price has the cups with Roy getting none.

yes I know what teams Roy was on.
And I know wha teams Price was on.
I watched the same games amd series you did.
I'm not fooled or mistaken because I missed or didn't realize the things you are so generously pointing out.
Roy had the better career as a Canadien than Price did. Was more consistent. Mentally tougher. And delivered in big games against big teams at big moments.
Not a knock against Carey. But if we are comparing him to the great Roy. Price will time up short everytime.

Cheers

 

[RebuildinVan]

Short and long answer is no

I mean if youre the owner are you happy with that investment?

 

[Foppberg]

Yes.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

yes I know what teams Roy was on.
And I know wha teams Price was on.
I watched the same games amd series you did.
I'm not fooled or mistaken because I missed or didn't realize the things you are so generously pointing out.
Roy had the better career as a Canadien than Price did. Was more consistent. Mentally tougher. And delivered in big games against big teams at big moments.
Not a knock against Carey. But if we are comparing him to the great Roy. Price will time up short everytime.

Cheers

Roy had the better career. No dispute. More consistent? No. Not in the playoffs.

Mental toughness? The guy quit in the middle of a game. As soon as the team started to decline he quit. So I dispute that as well. Price may have had his issues off the ice but he had far worse clubs and never left.

Roy was a great goalie. An all time great. But he's really overrated. He's not Hasek.

Roy will always be regarded as being one of the best ever and Price won't rank as high. That is beyond dispute and I won't say otherwise. But swap the teams and Price is a multi cup winning goalie and Roy has none. I'd say he was the better goalie, Roy had the better career.

 

[GrumpyKoala]

Links to Price refusing to learn French awhile living in a French first language city?

I mean while I agree it's speculative, I can't fathom how he could not come up with 5 words in 15 years.

French is a very hard language to learn when you're not trying