Price is voluntarily taking part in the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program and has been away from the Canadiens since Oct. 7.
"He's going to be here on Monday and obviously we haven't seen him in a month, we haven't talked to him," coach Dominique Ducharme said Friday. "So he's going to be coming in and he'll see our therapist and see where he's at. And then from there we'll build a plan."
Price was 13-9 with a 2.28 goals-against average, .924 save percentage and one shutout in the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season, helping the Canadiens reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since winning the Cup in 1993. They lost the best-of-7 series in five games to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Price did not take part in training camp after having arthroscopic surgery in New York on July 22 to repair a torn meniscus, with the Canadiens saying at the time his full recovery would take 10-12 weeks.
Price resumed skating Sept. 16 and told NHL.com he was in the Canadiens gym and medical clinic almost every day getting back into shape before entering the program.
Ducharme said Price will need to get back into game shape before the Canadiens will know when he can return to the lineup.
"There's a build-up for sure. I don't think it's a full medical like when they come before the season. But for sure he's coming off an injury and surgery so we've got to see where he's at with that," Ducharme said. "And then from there I think it's the gym, then on the ice by himself, and then with the goalie coach, with shooters, with the team, so there's a buildup for sure. And the timeline, it's tough to really go deep and have a plan, like a date today, because we have to see him."
Ducharme said it's too early to say if Price will need to play games for Laval in the American Hockey League before returning to the Canadiens, but it's an option.
"We're going to take a look at everything we can do to get him ready to play," Ducharme said. "That's one thing we can look at, but nothing's sure.
The Canadiens do not know if Price did any physical traing while he was in the program.
"No idea," Ducharme said. 'We were not talking to him. I don't think he was talking to too many people."
Montreal, which is 3-10-0, including a season-opening five-game losing streak, left Price exposed in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft one day before his surgery, but he was not selected by the Seattle Kraken.
Jake Allen has started 11 games for the Canadiens in Price's absence this season; he's 3-8-0 with a 2.94 goals-against average, .900 save percentage and two shutouts.
Selected by the Canadiens with the No. 5 pick in the 2005 NHL Draft, Price is 360-257-79 with a 2.50 GAA, .917 save percentage and 49 shutouts in 707 regular-season NHL games (695 starts). He has the most wins by a goalie in Montreal history.
In 2014-15, he won the Vezina Trophy voted as the best goalie in the NHL, the Hart Trophy as the most valuable player in the NHL, and the Ted Lindsay Award, given annually to the most outstanding player as voted by members of the NHL Players' Association.
That season, Price led the NHL with 44 wins and a 1.96 GAA, each an NHL career best, and a .933 save percentage, his second-best in the NHL (he had a .934 save percentage in 2015-16).
Price has five seasons remaining on the eight-year contract he signed with the Canadiens on July 2, 2017.
