The Montreal Canadiens have been through a lot since the last time Carey Price took the crease for the ‘bleu, blanc, et rouge’.
After leading the team to the Stanley Cup Final in the COVID-19-shortened season in 2021, Price appeared in only five games the following season after recovering from knee surgery.
However, Price was never fully able to recover from the injury and was unable to continue his NHL career.
Since that time, the Canadiens had a full rebuild where they finished last in the Atlantic Division for three straight seasons from the 2021-22 campaign to the 2023-24 season.
They took full advantage of the draft during that span, adding players like Juraj Slafkovsky, Lane Hutson, and Ivan Demidov to a core that already included sniper Cole Caufield and captain Nick Suzuki.
General manager Kent Hughes further added to his core, bringing in players like Noah Dobson, Alexandre Carrier, Alex Newhook, and Zachary Bolduc as the team fought to return to contention in the Eastern Conference.
After returning to the playoffs in 2025, the team took another step forward to Stanley Cup contention, reaching the Eastern Conference Final last season before falling to the eventual champion Carolina Hurricanes in five games.
“It sure feels that they’re a contender,” Price told David Stubbs of NHL.com on Monday. “[But], a lot of things need to go right [for a championship] to happen.”
Price understands more than most about how much is needed to win a championship. The 38-year-old is one of the most decorated goaltenders in Canadiens history, taking home a Hart Trophy, Vezina Trophy, William M. Jennings Trophy, and Ted Lindsay Award during the 2014-15 season.
He is the franchise’s all-time leader in wins (361) and is fourth with a career .917 save percentage and eighth with a career 2.51 goals-against average. He stands amongst some of the most legendary goaltenders in franchise history alongside Jacques Plante, Ken Dryden, Patrick Roy, George Hainsworth, Gump Worsley, Bill Durnan, and Rogie Vachon, among others.
His success has been recognized by the Hockey Hall of Fame, as he will be added to their hallowed halls in their induction ceremony in November.
However, despite his personal success, the team had trouble taking that next step forward in his 15-season career, only making the Stanley Cup Final once and the Eastern Conference Final twice in 2010 and 2014.
As Price looks at this generation of Canadiens’ goaltending, he’s excited at the young talent that Jakub Dobes and Jacob Fowler bring to the organization.
He watched as Dobes helped lead the Canadiens to the Eastern Conference Final last season, where he became the fifth rookie goalie in team history to win a Game 7, joining Price, Plante, Dryden and Roy.
Price has also kept an eye on Fowler, who is considered to be one of the team’s top goaltending prospects after he was selected 69th overall in the 2023 draft.
Fowler made his first foray into NHL action last season, appearing in 17 games with a 9-6-2 record, .908 save percentage and 2.43 GAA. He also went 19-7-1 with the AHL’s Laval Rocket last season with a 2.23 GAA and .916 save percentage.
“They’re a little bit different,” Price said of Dobes and Fowler. “I really love Dobes’ compete level; he’s got that ‘grrr’ in his game, he’s got that swagger. I really enjoy watching that. Fowler kind of reminds me more of myself, a little more reserved. He plays a very quiet game as I did. It’s their mentality that has them where they’re at.”
Above all, Price is enjoying watching the two goalies begin their careers as they cement themselves as everyday NHL players. He enjoys seeing them have success early on as he reminisces about what it was like to be a young player in the league.
“They’re both young players [and] I remember what it was like to be that age and find success,” said Price. “That’s a confidence-builder, not just for the goalies but for the team. They both seem to be confident in their abilities, and that’s a good thing.”
