In a commerce which may have flown below the radar in a small hockey market, particularly late on a Friday, the Montreal Canadiens discover themselves within the highlight, having simply traded Carey Worth to the San Jose Sharks. Additionally going the opposite manner is a 2026 fifth-round choose, whereas the Habs get prospect Gannon Laroque. Nevertheless, the primary prize for Habs basic supervisor Kent Hughes is the ensuing cap flexibility.
The Canadiens purchase defenseman Gannon Laroque from the San Jose Sharks in change for goaltender Carey Worth and a fifth-round choose in 2026.
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Worth’s Essential Evil of a Contract
In previous seasons, the Canadiens had positioned the contract of the unofficially retired Price, who hasn’t performed since late within the 2021-22 season, on long-term injured reserve for cap reduction. That doubtless would have been true this season as nicely, had they not discovered a commerce associate within the Sharks. Nevertheless, as Habs beat writer Marco D’Amico has defined previously, in such an occasion any efficiency bonus overages depend in opposition to the cap the next season.
On a younger staff just like the Canadiens, that might damage their cap scenario. Think about how they’re set to commonly play a number of gamers on entry-level offers, together with Ivan Demidov, who’s the odds-on favorite to win the Calder Memorial Trophy, to provide the Habs their second straight (Lane Hutson). So, what’s modified? Why have the Habs instantly been capable of deal Worth?
Associated: Prime Canadiens’ Priorities Heading into 2025-26
That is the final yr of Worth’s vital evil of a contract, throughout which he’s solely owed a base wage of $2 million, in sharp distinction to his $10.5 million cap hit. So, it’s a sexy device for a staff just like the Sharks, who could be trying to keep above the cap flooring all season lengthy as they presumably brace for one more marketing campaign throughout which they’ll find yourself sellers. In case you add in the truth that Worth was owed his $5.5 million signing bonus on Sept. 1, making his base wage, which is poised to be coated by insurance coverage, the one monetary obligation the staff to which he’s being traded should respect, it’s comprehensible the way it may need made the previous couple of days just a little tense in hockey-mad Montreal.
In Laroque, the Canadiens get a 22-year-old defenseman with an admitted low ceiling, particularly at this juncture. Having been drafted within the fourth spherical (No. 103) in 2021, the 6-foot-2 Laroque (201 kilos), cut up 2023-24 between the American Hockey League’s San Jose Barracuda and the Wichita Thunder within the ECHL, getting in 9 video games in every league as a result of injuries. He then missed all of 2024-25 as nicely. So, expectations are what they’re. Nevertheless, buying and selling Worth is anticipated in some circles to be the primary of a number of dominos to fall for the Habs, with their newfound cap flexibility, as they now discover themselves formally $4.57 million below the cap..
It’s Montreal in any case. So, idle hypothesis stays at an all-time excessive no matter day of the week (or month) it’s.
