While there is no confirmation yet as to what the Montreal Canadiens' expansion draft protection list looks like, apparently it could have been headline news, had one major name been added.
According to Frank Seravalli, multiple sources had confirmed that the Habs had discussed the possibility of requesting that Carey Price waive his NMC for the purpose of exposing him in the upcoming Seattle Expansion Draft on July 21st.
Price, 33, is one of the absolute best netminders in the game. We saw the evidence of that in the Habs' run to the Stanley Cup Final this year. As is often the case, an elite talent level comes with a lofty salary, and Price is no exception as he is slated to earn $10.5M per season over the next 5 seasons, per CapFriendly.
If Price had agreed to waive his NMC, allowing the Habs to expose him to Seattle, I'd imagine that would likely have been the top hockey story of 2021 thus far, likely eclipsing the Habs' impressive postseason run.
Seravalli did not close the door on the possibility of Price actually having been left exposed by the Habs, but at this point, I highly doubt that that's the case and that the Habs elected to protect Jake Allen over the guy who just carried them to the Stanley Cup Final.
