Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes says he doesn't expect star goalie Carey Price to be ready for the start of the season -- and it's possible he won't play at all in 2022-23.
Following the trade that sent Sean Monahan to Montreal on Thursday, Hughes said on a media conference call that news on Price's injured knee is "discouraging."
"The news about Carey's knee is pretty discouraging in the sense that there hasn't been any improvement throughout the the rehab process," Hughes said. "All last season it obviously continued to create problems for him. This summer he went thought the process of a shot to the knee, seeing if that would help. It did not.
"At this point, we don't expect Carey to be available for the start of the season, quite frankly I don't know if there 's path for Carey to return this season through the rehab process.
Hughes said he expects Price to go on long-term injured reserve.
For the Habs GM, rehabbing doesn't seem like it will be enough for Price to return to the ice.
"That's a question we'll be able to better answer after we speak to Carey and ourt doctors at the start of training camp so I can't answer right now but I think that if there's a way for Carey to return to play it will require surgery on his part." Hughes said.
"So that's something we'll need to have more information about before giving you an answer but I can answer that we don't think that Carey will be able to return to play with with rehab."
Price has four seasons remaining on his eight-year, $84-million contract signed in 2017. The goaltender commands a $10.5-million annual average value. `
