Ah rumours… speculations… hypothetical situations… and people pretending to know what the organisation and the players are thinking. What would we do without it? You know what? Instead of fighting it, why don’t we play along? Let’s say we know that Jeff Gorton wants to trade Carey Price, for example, and the Habs’ goalie would gladly lift his no-movement clause (NMC). Let’s pretend we’re Peter Pan and let’s travel to Neverland.
For that, I’ll have to use my own opinion as we have received no indication that any of it is happening. And that is in spite of how opinions are being formulated on the net. So, in my opinion (not facts), I had written that there were four teams where I thought that Price might accept to lift his NMC for. They are:
- Edmonton Oilers – for a chance at a Cup, a bit closer to home (British Columbia)
- Colorado Avalanche – for the same reason as above
- Seattle Kraken – He risked it, lifted his clause for the Expansion Draft. His wife Angela is from there.
- Vancouver Canucks – Carey’s family is in BC, so is his summer home, but Thatcher Demko makes that impossible. They’ll stick with the young man.
All of that was what I thought before Marc Bergevin was fired and landed in Los Angeles. We know the relationship he and Price had, and the mutual respect between the two men. So for that reason, I’ll add L.A. to that list where Price could accept a trade to.
Tax implication
I went onto Capfriendly.com to see what the fiscal implication would be for Price if he was traded to any of those States or Province. After this season, the Canadiens’ star goaltender has four more years to his contract with a cap hit of $10.5 million. In reality, he will be owed a four-year total of $31.25 million, with all but $7 million being base salary and the rest in signing bonuses.
| SEASON | SIGNING BONUS | BASE SALARY | TOTAL | TEAM | NET INCOME |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | $6.75M | $1M | $7.75M | MTL | $3.64M |
| LAK | $3.72M | ||||
| EDM | $4.06M | ||||
| COL | $4.36M | ||||
| SEA | $4.71M | ||||
| 2023-24 | $6.5M | $2M | $8.5M | MTL | $3.99M |
| LAK | $4.08M | ||||
| EDM | $4.45M | ||||
| COL | $4.78M | ||||
| SEA | $5.15M | ||||
| 2024-25 | $5.5M | $2M | $7.5M | MTL | $3.52M |
| LAK | $3.61M | ||||
| EDM | $3.93M | ||||
| COL | $4.22M | ||||
| SEA | $4.54M | ||||
| 2025-26 | $5.5M | $2M | $7.5M | MTL | $3.52M |
| LAK | $3.61M | ||||
| EDM | $4.45M | ||||
| COL | $4.78M | ||||
| SEA | $4.54M | ||||
| TOTAL | $24.25M | $7M | $31.25M | MTL | $14.67M |
| LAK | $15.02M | ||||
| EDM | $16.37M | ||||
| COL | $17.58M | ||||
| SEA | $18.94M |
As you can see, simply fiscally speaking, Montreal is the worst place to be off the four when just looking at taxes situation. Of course, this is going with today’s tax rates and we know how quickly that can change. Los Angeles has the sun, the beaches and the fact he could walk everywhere without being recognized, all things Montreal cannot offer.
Fiscally speaking, not counting accounting creativity, Seattle would offer him over $4 million net in his pockets, so an average of $1M more per year net more than he would touch in Montreal. That’s substantial folks! Colorado offers just under $3 million more and he would be getting $1.7 million more playing with Connor McDavid.
So there you have it. Carey will be taking this into consideration if he’s asked to lift his NMC, I’m sure. This doesn’t mean that he will go for the money at all though. But it would be in discussions I’m sure.
More reading…
Medical Staff and Carey Price’s Future
Habs And Kings Are Great Trade Partners
Decisions To Come On Defense by Bob Trask