Habs' Price to meet with media next week

Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes said Wednesday that goaltender Carey Price will meet with the media next week as his playing future remains in doubt.

Price was placed long-term injured reserve this off-season due to ongoing knee issues. He told The Athletic in an interview published Wednesday that he does not feel close to returning.

“I’m just kind of taking it step by step, really,” Price said. “Again, my knee still isn’t doing great. Like, I’m still not walking up a set of stairs pain-free yet. I still don’t feel like my knee is in a place where I’m going to be able to play hockey. I still am getting swelling in my knee, even in my day-to-day living. It’s not a great-looking outlook as far as a hockey career when you’re struggling to get up and down stairs.

“So, I’m just trying to stay positive, and just trying to get my body to a place where I’m healthy enough to be pain-free in my day-to-day. That’s kind of my main priority right now.”

The 35-year-old played in just five games last season toward the end of the schedule as he spent much of the year recovering from an off-season knee procedure. In those five games, Price went 1-4 with a .878 save percentage and a 3.63 goals-against average. He won the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy as the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey. The season before, Price helped lead the Habs to the Stanley Cup Final, where they fell in five games to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

He is heading into the fifth year of an eight-year, $84 million deal he signed in July of 2017. The contract carries a cap hit of $10.5 million.

The Anaheim Lake, B.C., native was selected fifth overall in the 2005 NHL Draft and has played 15