Apparently, Price's camp has countered at 10 years, $70 million.
Holy huge contract!
Now, to back up a little, this all came out this morning on the Sunday Shinny segment of The Franchise weekend morning show, on TSN 990. JT Utah, from 25 Stanley, was on the show and he said he has a single source, very close to negotiations, who gave him the info.
All this to say that this doesn't necessarily mean this is true. It is a rumour right now.
That being said, veracity aside, this is a great discussion point.
You can listen to our discussion about the topic below but, for now, here's how I see it:
IF this is true, I imagine that Price's agent is using Pekka Rinne's seven-year, $49 million extension this year as a barometer.
I'm not a huge fan of super long term deals, but there is something to be said about identifying a franchise player and signing him long term.
So, between seven and 10 years, I don't really see too much of an issue. What irks me is the $7 million per year price tag. That is a hell of a lot of money for an upcoming RFA (with arbitration rights).
Rinne got potential UFA money and I, personally, see a $5.5 to $6.5 million hit as much more reasonable for Price. I guess $6.5 million is not that far off from $7 million but wow, that number just seems huge.
The good news?
Again, IF this rumour is true, is that Price and the Habs are on the same page, dollar wise ($7 million per). The only thing to hammer out is term and there is only three years difference between the two sides.
If that's the case, I imagine a signing announcement will be imminent. Maybe the Habs agree to the 10 years but pull it back to $6.5 per year.
Who knows and, for now, it remains solely a rumour.
So what do you think? Would you sign Price for seven year? 10 years? Is $7 million per year too much? Not enough?
Click play below to listen in (listing time 58:10):
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Kamal is a freelance writer, Senior Writer/Editor-in-Chief of HabsAddict.com, Montreal Canadiens Blogger on Hockeybuzz.com and featured columnist on PowerScoutHockey.com. Kamal is also a weekly contributor to the Sunday Shinny segment of The Franchise weekend morning show, on TSN Radio 990 (AM 990) every Sunday from 9 - 10 AM. Listen live at http://www.tsn.ca/montreal/
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