Leafs Division Rival, the Montreal Canadiens, Officially Trade Goaltender Carey Price

The Montreal Canadiens pulled off a rather monumental trade earlier today when they moved goaltender Carey Price to the San Jose Sharks, alongside a 5th round pick, in exchange for defenseman Gannon Laroque.

While Price hasn't played since the 2021-22 season due to a knee injury and is also likely to never return, it's a big move in the sense that it saves the Canadiens $10.5 million off the salary cap.

Price's bonus had already been paid for by Montreal and he only had one year remaining on his deal, so this move was essentially a cap dump. The Sharks assumed the entire cap hit but were given a 5th round pick in return and they still carry over $9 million in cap space.

As for Montreal, it's substantial because they were in the red up until this move. With Price's entire cap hit off the books, they now have $4.57 million in cap space and could be in the hunt for some roster improvements as originally speculated by Marco D'Amico.

A move like this should worry the Toronto Maple Leafs and the rest of the Atlantic Division, considering the sudden uprise of the Canadiens after their playoff run last season.

$4.57 million is a decent chunk of change to have in your back pocket to start the season and should be weaponized if they need to make improvements from now to the trade deadline.

Montreal has been looking for help at the centre position and with the excess amount of cap space at their disposal now, they could look to poach Maple Leafs target Jack Roslovic, who remains a free agent this late in the summer.

The Canadiens are certainly a team to keep an eye out for as they are expected to take a step forward from last year's successes.