Sharks trade AHL defenseman to Canadiens for Carey Price’s contract, plus sweetener

SAN JOSE The San Jose Sharks acquired goalie Carey Price and a fifth-round pick from the Montreal Canadiens on Friday in exchange for defenseman Gannon Laroque in a win-win for both organizations Price has not played since April as a debilitating knee injury has ended his remarkable career which could culminate in his electoral process to the Hockey Hall of Fame as soon as next year Price is entering the final year of an eight-year million deal he signed in July and carries a million cap hit But he has been on long-term injured reserve each of the last three seasons and will remain on LTIR for the - season Price received a million signing bonus from the Canadiens on September and is now owed just million in salary which insurance likely covers The Sharks get a small sweetener in the form of a draft pick for taking on the rest of Price s contract and the Canadiens create specific salary cap space for the upcoming season The Sharks per PuckPedia now have a projected cap hit of roughly million and million in projected cap space for the upcoming season with operational players and Price and Logan Couture going on LTIR The Canadiens now have million in projected cap space with current players Price s cap hit should allow the Sharks to stay above this season s salary cap floor of million even if they deal any number of their pending unrestricted free agents Players who are slated to become UFAs next season and who have substantial cap hits include forwards Alexander Wennberg million and Jeff Skinner million defensemen Nick Leddy and John Klingberg million each Mario Ferraro million and Timothy Liljegren million and goalie Alex Nedeljkovic million Please check back for updates to this story