End-of-season availability: The players

MONTREAL -- Nine players addressed the media on Saturday at the Bell Sports Complex to reflect on the 2021-22 season.

Here are a few highlights from their respective press conferences:
Brendan Gallagher
- Gallager called the season "frustrating" for him personally because of his drop in production, but that "doesn't change his desire to be a Montreal Canadien and be a winner here."
- The Habs' alternate captain dealt with lingering pelvic injuries throughout the year that affected his play.
- Gallagher declined an invitation to play for Team Canada at the World Championship so he can fully recover from his injuries and begin preparing for next season. He said that he needs to "build my body back up and feel comfortable where night after night I can be the player I know I can be."
- The veteran winger insisted he is "100 percent confident" that he can return to form for next season. He will train with his father, Ian, again over the coming months.

Carey Price
- Price said he has "a few appointments to make over the summer" to further evaluate the status of his knee. The 34-year-old goaltender will essentially be seeking out another medical opinion. He didn't rule out the possibility of undergoing another surgical procedure.
- Price indicated that the swelling in his knee has persisted since his return to the lineup two weeks ago, making it "tough to do things well out there."
- He doesn't foresee a heavy workload (e.g., 55 to 60 starts per season) between the pipes being feasible moving forward.
- The Anahim Lake, BC native indicated that he prepared for Friday night's season-finale against the Panthers as if it might be his last given the uncertainty regarding his health.
- No matter what lies ahead for Price from a medical standpoint, he's committed to playing again: "This is definitely tough, but I've always been a fighter and I'm not giving up. I'm going to continue doing my best to prepare for next season."

Jake Allen
- Allen said he's feeling "really good" three weeks after suffering a season-ending groin injury. He appeared in his final game on April 9 against the Maple Leafs in Toronto.
- On the subject of Price's health, Allen remains optimistic: "I don't put anything past him about coming back and being the old Carey again… I'm looking forward to seeing him get through this."
- On a personal note, the 31-year-old believes he can "take his game to another level" next year. His preparation over the summer "will be the same" regardless of his anticipated workload.

Jeff Petry
- Petry explained that the arrival of interim head coach Martin St-Louis, specifically the style of play he implemented, helped get his game "back on track" over the last two months.
-The American blueliner never doubted that he could find his groove again after struggling out of the gate: "I needed to get that belief back in myself, push through everything and find that again." He said that conversations with St-Louis were a huge assist in that department.
- Regarding his future in Montreal, Petry "doesn't want to close the door on the organization and the team." He'll take time to reflect on the season and talk to his family back home in Michigan to determine the best course of action - whether he'd like to stay or be moved.
- As far as his wife and three boys remaining in the United States after Christmas is concerned, he explained that because of previous COVID restrictions in Quebec, it was simply easier for family members to move freely south of the border to help with childcare.
- The Michigan State University grad expressed his heartfelt appreciation for the city, too: "There's no better place to win… I truly believe it's the greatest place to play when things are going well…The Bell Centre is second-to-none."

Nick Suzuki
- Suzuki confirmed that he declined an invitation from Team Canada brass to participate in the IIHF World Championship "because of injuries."
- The 22-year-old center dealt with a lower-back injury this season, which is why he didn't participate in practices and morning skates down the stretch. He explained the injury would "flare up" from time to time, so decreasing practice time was best.
- Injury issues aside, Suzuki was the only player on the Canadiens' roster to play every game this season: "I pride myself on being available for every game, and to have that under my belt felt good."
- One of his main takeaways from his third NHL campaign was "dealing with the lows" and remaining confident that "you can get out of it."

Cole Caufield
- Caufield confirmed that he declined an invitation from USA Hockey brass to participate in the IIHF World Championship "because of the short offseason [last year] and the long season." The American sniper wants to focus on his training "to be 100 percent next year."
- The 21-year-old University of Wisconsin product said he could definitely envision Suzuki serving as the next Habs' captain: "He's someone I look up to. He's quiet around the room, but he does all the right things on the ice… A lot of guys look up to him. They don't look at his age at all."

Paul Byron
- Byron's health status was the topic of conversation after he underwent hip surgery last July. The veteran winger finally made his season debut on January 30, but suffered numerous setbacks that ultimately forced him to watch from the sidelines again. His most recent injury was actually related to his operation: "I rehabbed, I felt good in the games, I felt like I got my speed back, and then just the workload, my left hip was swelling, there was swelling in the pubic area. It was natural compensation in my body. My right side was taking a lot of the workload, and I ended up tearing a few muscles where the bone attachment is on the pubic bone. I initially thought I had another sports hernia, but I got super lucky. Everything in the imaging was very minor. There were minor tears in multiple muscles, so it's nothing more than rest and rehab. In a few more weeks, I'll be pretty much back to 100 percent. This is a big summer for me to try and build my body back up and be able to handle that workload and handle that compensation."
- While the Ottawa native was limited to just 27 appearances, he still took away some important positives from the campaign: "I felt like I got my speed back. I know I'm a great skater. I could probably skate in sixth gear and look pretty good out there, but when you're used to playing in seven and eight and having that last burst, that extra speed, losing that was tough, so getting that back felt really good again. Now, it's just a matter of getting to a point where you can do it every game and your body can handle it every game."

Jonathan Drouin
- Drouin indicated that he expects to be ready for training camp after undergoing season-ending surgery on his right wrist in early April.
- He explained the circumstances that led up to his operation: "The first thing was the game in Vegas in January, my wrist gave out on me that game. I know that feeling because I had it on my left side. We took some tests and we felt that maybe rehab could be an option and I didn't need surgery right away. As rehab went along, it became longer and longer, and at some point I felt good where I didn't really have any pain, but my wrist still bothered me a bit. But after that first game in Ottawa [on March 19], I was sitting in the training room and I knew my wrist was pretty much done. I still wanted to play that game knowing my year was over, and we decided to get surgery right after that Boston game [on March 21] where I couldn't hold my stick. Maybe I wish we did surgery before, but I think we really did the rehab where it was new management, I didn't want to get surgery right away, I wanted to play games and feel out the new coaches and all that stuff. Obviously, it didn't work out for me."
- Drouin was adamant that his primary objective next season "is to play 82 games."

Alexander Romanov
- Romanov confirmed that he won't return home to Russia to train this summer. He'll remain in Montreal and could spend some time in the United States.
- He enjoyed playing alongside veteran David Savard: "He's an awesome guy. He always supported me. He always talked to me on the ice. He was always trying to teach me."
- The 22-year-old also spoke glowingly about his relationship with assistant coach Luke Richardson, who's tasked with leading the club's defensemen: "He's amazing. He's a professional. I really like working with him. Luke has helped me both on and off the ice. He's a great guy and he helps me all the time."
- The Jacques Beauchamp-Molson Trophy winner is eager to make key improvements over the next few months: "I would like to improve my offensive game. That's my weak point. This year, I learned how to play smarter. That's the first thing I tried to do. I tried to maintain my energy, not try to waste it on sprints to nowhere. I tried to play like a major player. I'll train a lot to improve my skills with the puck. I'll watch a lot of videos to understand how to do it. That's how I'll develop."