Not to respond on someone else's behalf but that really isn't the case. There are multiple giant holes on the roster right now, we are about to trade Petry and open a new roster hole, and there's bad contracts that we have to move or wait out. There is no plausible scenario to be competitive in the short term, in part exactly because we don't have a starting goalie and if you want to be good in the short to medium term there's not really a better option than just...hoping Price can return unless you're super high on Husso or Kuemper or something.
No, the Canadiens are not putting all their plans into that player. They have Allen on the roster right now as a useful veteran, Primeau, Dobes, and Dichow developing, and they are going to extend Montembeault as insurance. They are leaving the door open, but have feasible options for this season if he can't play, and will make moves over this offseason or next offseason if Price ends up going on permanent LTIR, and the long-term plan is currently one of the three G prospects.
Yes we will. Price himself said another season like this would not be sustainable with regards to his injuries, and both Gorton and Hughes have been cryptic but have talked about hopefully knowing by the start of the free agency period. Both sides seem to be pretty aware that he's not going to play out the contract, and this year is the decision point on both sides. We might not know by the start of next season, but we will absolutely know by the end.
For the life of me I will never understand why people seem to think Price wants to just hang around in injury limbo forever when he has the option of going home to BC on LTIR to fish and hunt away from the spotlight.
