"This summer he went through the process of a shot to the knee seeing if that would help," Hughes said. "It did not, and at this point, we don't expect Carey to be available for the start of this season. Quite frankly, I don't know that there's a path for Carey to return this season through the rehab process."
Hughes confirmed that Price will be placed on long-term injured reserve, a move that made it possible for Montreal to free up enough cap space to acquire center Sean Monahan in a
trade with the Calgary Flames
.
"I've mentioned before that we were kind of in a gray area with Carey in terms of knowing whether he'd be able to play or not, and unfortunately it's not a determination that we can make," Hughes said. "We had to let time take its course. At this point in time, the news in terms of Carey's knee is pretty discouraging in the sense that there hasn't been any improvement."
Thursday is the latest setback for the 35-year-old goalie since having knee surgery on July 23, 2021.
At the time of the surgery, Price was thought to need 10-12 weeks to recover, but he was forced to restart his rehabilitation in January following a pause in activities as a COVID-19 preventative measure, during which he contracted the virus.
That restart came after Price missed a month while in the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program, which he entered on Oct. 7 for substance use.
Price was able to make his return toward the end of the season, though, going 1-4-0 with a 3.63 goals-against average and .878 save percentage.
He made his final start of the season in a 10-2 win against the Florida Panthers on April 29, making 37 saves in his 700th NHL start. However, the following day Price said he was seeking a second opinion on his knee and that he was aware he may have played his last NHL game.
"I'm just continuing to get a lot of swelling in my knee," Price said. "So due to that fact, it's been difficult to do a lot of things that I would consider well out there. Last night, for instance, I played pretty well. It was a pretty good game. But in that same token, there are different aspects of goaltending that's required these days that is very difficult for me to do. So we're going to get us another opinion and go from there.
"It was just an exceptional day for myself (the win against the Panthers). I had a great sleep. It was just an A-plus day. If it is it, then that would be a great way to do it."
Selected with the No. 5 pick in the 2005 NHL Draft, Price is Montreal's all-time leader in wins, going 361-261-79 with a 2.51 GAA, .917 save percentage and 49 shutouts in 712 regular-season games. He is also 43-45 with a 2.39 GAA, .919 save percentage and eight shutouts in 92 Stanley Cup Playoff games (89 starts), including helping the Canadiens advance to the Final in 2021, when they lost in five games to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
