One restricted free agent that’s not getting much notice of late is Montreal’s Carey Price. After all, when you lost your job halfway through the season and played backup to a guy that was a veritable Superman in the playoffs in Jaroslav Halak, it’s expected that what was once a very bright future might seem a bit dim by comparison. The Canadiens made their decision, however, and traded Halak to St. Louis for Lars Eller and Ian Schultz.
So just what does a once benched but still very young (he’s only 23 years-old) and capable goaltender find his worth to be on the restricted market? Mike Boone of Habs Inside/Out takes a look at Price’s contemporaries around the NHL to try and figure it out, highlighting one comparison to the recently re-signed by the Wild, Josh Harding.
Harding played in 25 games last year, cmpared to 41 for Price. But their career numbers make an interesting comparison:
Price: 93 regular season GP, a record of 47wins, 28 losses and 13 overtime losses. GAA of 2.71, save percentage of 91.2
Harding: 83 GP, 28-39-8, 2.66, 91.5.
Harding is 26. Price turns 23 next month.
Tuuka Rask, Boston, 23: 50, 25-13-6, 2.01, 93.0. $1 million this season, $1.5 million in 2011-'12, then an RFA.
Steve Mason, Columbus, 22: 61, 33-20-7, 2.29, 91.6. $765,000 this season, then a RFA.
Semyon Varlamov, Washington, 22: 32, 19-4-7, 2.49, 91.5. $850,00 this season, $765,000 in 2011-'12, then a RFA.
In other words, it’s tough to find an appropriate way to match up Price in both the workload and the salary demands. After bonuses, he took down about $2.2 million and you’d think that that would be the starting point for him to begin talks. Montreal has already made their bed with a backup goalie by signing Alex Auld so the starting job should be Price’s to lose. Then again, when it comes to Montreal you never really know how things will work out. After all, no one expected Jaroslav Halak to take over the starting job and lead the team to the Eastern Conference finals. That said, if Alex Auld takes the starting job over Carey Price next year, I think we’d all gag on our poutine.