According to Puckpedia’s numbers, the Montreal Canadiens have the most expensive goaltending in the NHL this season. They devote $14.8 million in salary to masked men, which accounts for the three goaltenders they have on NHL contracts and who aren’t waivers exempt: Carey Price, Samuel Montembeault, Kaapo Kahkonen, and Jakub Dobes. That works out to 15,5% of their cap.

The New York Rangers are in second place, with Ivor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick commanding a combined salary of $13 M, 13.7% of their cap. The Anaheim Ducks are in third place with $12.9 M for Lukas Dostal (who was just signed to a five-year contract with a $6.5 M cap hit), Petr Mrazek, and Ville Husso. The trio takes up 13.6% of the cap. The New York Islanders are in fourth place, having devoted $12 million to Ilya Sorokin, Semyon Varlamov, and David Rittich. That counts for 12.6% of the cap. Finally, the Boston Bruins wrap up the top-five with $11.2 M devoted to two goaltenders; Jaremy Swayman and Joonas Korpisalo that amounts to 11.8% of the cap.

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Among the top-five teams, only two have goaltenders who are or could be placed on LTIR, with only one who won’t ever come off it. That’s, of course, the Canadiens, with Price’s contract. Once he’s placed on LTIR or traded, the Canadiens’ cap hit for masked men will fall back down to $4.3 million, leaving them with one of the lowest amounts of money spent on goaltending.

That demonstrates the significant shift in direction the Canadiens have taken since Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton took over. Of course, they had no choice, since Price’s career was cut short by injury, but when he was hired, Hughes said in an ideal world, his team would be a fast and attacking one that would suit his coaching style. Since then, several moves have been made to achieve this goal, and there is no indication that the Canadiens will revert to a defense-first approach with the recent arrivals of Lane Hutson, Ivan Demidov, and this off-season’s addition of Noah Dobson.

When Price’s contract comes off the books, be it by expiring or being traded, that money won’t be reinvested in goaltending or defending, since the blueliner is already looking pretty solid with the prospects in the pipeline. While Habs fans enjoyed watching the face of the franchise make great saves for years, this is undoubtedly a welcome change of pace.

Photo credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-Imagn Images

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