Photo: NHL.com

According to The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun, the Montreal Canadiens exposed goaltender Carey Price in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft on Saturday after the 33-year-old waived his no-movement clause. The Canadiens protected Jake Allen from the Seattle Kraken.

Of note on the Carey Price situation: He’s owed an $11M signing bonus in September — a big upfront payout if #seakraken claim him.

Price also only waived his NMC for expansion purposes. So he can’t be claimed and flipped in a subsequent trade without his consent.

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) July 18, 2021

Price went 13-9 with a .924 save percentage, a 2.28 goals-against average, and one shutout during the Canadiens’ run to the Stanley Cup Final but has finished with a save percentage of .909 at the highest in three of the past four seasons, including .901 this past regular season. Price went 12-7-5 with a 2.64 goals against average and one shutout.

The Canadiens exposed their franchise goaltender most likely because of his contract, which has five seasons left and carries a $10.5 million cap hit.

In 707 career NHL games, Price has gone 360-257-79 with a .917 save percentage, a 2.50 goals-against average, and 49 shutouts.

He won the Hart Trophy (awarded to the NHL’s MVP), Vezina Trophy (top goaltender), and Ted Lindsay Award (MVP voted by the players) in 2015.

The St. Louis Blues also reportedly exposed left wing Vladimir Tarasenko, who is reportedly on the trade block, in favor of center Ivan Barbashev before the protection lists were due at 5 PM ET on Saturday. They will be released to the public at 10 AM ET on Sunday. The Kraken will have until 10 AM ET on Wednesday to submit their picks.

Hearing that Carey Price has waived his no-move for purpose of exposure in the expansion draft so that the Habs could protect Jake Allen in the expansion draft. The thought is that Seattle wouldn’t want to pick up the rest of Price’s hefty contract. But I guess we will see.

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) July 18, 2021

By Harrison Brown