Carey Price is no longer a Montreal Canadien. Well, he hasn't played a game for the Habs since the 2021-22 season due to a career-ending knee injury, so the trade of his contract with a 2026 fifth-round pick to San Jose for defenseman Gannon Laroque is mainly a paper transaction. The Habs will no longer need to use LTIR, which has been the case since after their 2021 Stanley Cup Final run because of the injuries to Price and Shea Weber. Laroque split last season between the AHL and ECHL, so his chances of playing in the NHL this season seem low.

The rebuilding Sharks have more than enough space to store Price's $10.5 million cap hit, which they will have on the books for one more season. The Sharks will be able to store the contract on LTIR if they wish, while they could also trade some veterans at the deadline without risking falling below the cap floor.

All of this is to say that there are practically no immediate fantasy implications to this trade, but maybe some future ripple effects.

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The Flames have re-signed Connor Zary to a three-year contract with a cap hit of $3.775 million. The three years represents a bridge deal for Zary, as it sounds like he and the Flames couldn't agree on how much he is worth. In his two NHL seasons, Zary has scored at between a 40-45-point pace. He has missed significant time due to injuries, though, having never played more than 63 games in an NHL season. At the end of the contract, Zary will still have one more year of RFA status left.

With Zary off the board, only six unsigned RFAs remain. I wrote about three of them along with Zary in a Ramblings a week ago.

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Now that I've experienced a few mock drafts this offseason, I am getting a sense of where many players are being valued. That means I'm ready to offer my opinions on players drafted too high and too low. An addition to that, I've also mixed in a few observations on where certain positions are being targeted and what might be ideal in those spots.

PLAYERS DRAFTED OR RANKED TOO HIGH

Matthew Tkachuk (Yahoo ADP 24.5)

This is the low-hanging fruit of this section. Tkachuk is here until we know more about his injury situation. He wants to continue playing as long as he can, but he won't be able to put off surgery for a torn adductor forever (one report even suggesting he has already undergone the surgery). If he postpones surgery, then he could be a steal at that position. However, the lingering injury might diminish his production and cause so much discomfort that he is forced into surgery. That's not a gamble I'm willing to take with a high pick. Let someone else take that chance, or else wait for him to fall several rounds.

Mackenzie Blackwood (Yahoo ADP 26.5)

Although Blackwood is not as terrible a goalie as Alexandar Georgiev was, this has a bit of the vibes of drafting a goalie high based on the team. Is Colorado still a legitimate Stanley Cup contender? I still support Zero G and the idea of waiting until later to draft goalies, so I suppose Blackwood is the easiest target of this early-round group. Prior to 2024-25, Blackwood had not been an established starter – mainly a timeshare goalie. That may have had to do with some of the teams he played for. That being said, he seems too unproven to be in this spot.

In case you're wondering, the first tier of goalies on Yahoo consists of Connor Hellebuyck, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Jake Oettinger, Blackwood, and Igor Shesterkin. All are generally being drafted in the first three rounds.

Victor Hedman (Yahoo ADP: 38)

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In a recent mock draft I participated in, Hedman went late in the third round. I know he has averaged close to a point-per-game over the past four seasons, but I'm starting to worry that a player about to turn 35 will sharply decline. Hedman has a lot of wear and tear based on the high minutes he has played throughout his career. Although I am not usually averse to rostering players who are over 30, I am personally gunshy about Hedman this early, having drafted him in 2022-23 when he recorded just 49 points in 76 games. Cliffy also described Hedman's peripherals decline in a recent Ramblings.

Filip Gustavsson (Yahoo Ranking: 41)

I've listed Gustavsson's Yahoo ranking instead of his average draft position (58.5) because the drafters are closer to correct on this one. Gustavsson posted solid numbers in 2024-25 and has only inexperienced goalie prospect Jesper Wallstedt to challenge him for starts. That being said, Gustavsson is difficult to get a read on season by season, with numbers all over the map. His quality start percentage has swayed between 40% and 70% over the last four seasons. In addition, Minnesota seems like a borderline playoff team in a tight Central Division, although he could still reach 30 wins.

PLAYERS DRAFTED OR RANKED TOO LOW

Adam Fox (Yahoo Ranking: 66)

If you discover you need defensemen before the midway point of your draft, why reach for Hedman when you can wait a bit for Fox? The drafters have a better read on this than the Yahoo rankers, as Fox's ADP is 55. His stock has fallen because his scoring regressed as the Rangers did last season. Yet over the last three seasons, Fox has outscored Hedman slightly, and he's also seven years younger. Even last season, they weren't that far apart. You can see that for yourself in the Frozen Tools Player Compare.

In my recent mock draft, the following defensemen were drafted within a round and a half of each other in Rounds 6 and 7 (picks 60-80): MacKenzie Weegar, Jake Sanderson, Noah Dobson, Roman Josi, Shea Theodore, Dougie Hamilton, Miro Heiskanen, Mikhail Sergachev, and Brandon Montour. These seem like ideal D2's in 12-team leagues, so look out for that run. Of that group, I like Sanderson for the pure scoring upside, while Weegar is the best for taking care of peripheral categories.

Robert Thomas (Yahoo ADP: 40)

I actually don't think the ADP is too low, but I think it will decline when it shouldn't. In my recent mock draft, I was able to draft Thomas in the seventh round (78^th overall). This seems far too low for a player that has cracked 80 points for two consecutive seasons – even if the total is assist-heavy and the peripherals aren't super high.

I believe this had to do with the number of centers still available at that time, which included Dylan Larkin (ADP 71.5) and Roope Hintz (ADP 86.0). John Tavares and Elias Pettersson were also drafted just a few picks before Thomas. With that in mind, it might be wise to look for centers after the first six rounds or so – once you have taken care of drafting a defenseman or two. You might find some great value. Also note that Yahoo tends to place forwards with C/W eligibility in the C position of teams, which could allow you an extra center.

Sam Montembeault (Yahoo ADP: 121)

Montembeault has established himself as a workhorse goalie, jumping from a career-high 41 games in 2023-24 all the way to 62 games in 2024-25. In fact, only usual suspects Connor Hellebuyck and Andrei Vasilevskiy played in more games than Montembeault. The Habs goalie is obviously not in the same tier as these two, but his value could move closer to that tier if Montreal moves up the standings. Montembeault could also be aided by an improved blueline that allows fewer shots.

In my recent mock draft, here is the list of goalies drafted between picks 100 and 144: Juuse Saros, Linus Ullmark, Jordan Binnington, Jacob Markstrom, Lukas Dostal, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Montembeault, Joey Daccord, Thatcher Demko, and Pyotr Kochetkov. That's 10 goalies chosen in fewer than 50 picks, so a goalie is chosen once every 4.4 picks between about Rounds 9 to 12. With Zero G becoming more common, this could be when the largest goalie run occurs in your fantasy hockey draft.

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Who do you think is being drafted or ranked too high or low? What trends have you noticed in drafts, whether mock or real? Let us know in the comments.

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Sad news concerning another Montreal goalie: Ken Dryden has passed away. Not only was he an outstanding goalie, but he was also the author of one of the finest hockey-related reads ever: The Game, where he provided a descriptive peek into life with the 1970s Montreal Canadiens. Condolences to his family and those who knew him.

Ken Dryden, the legendary Montreal Canadiens goaltender who backstopped the team's 1970s dynasty to six Stanley Cups, has passed away at the age of 78 following a battle with cancer.

News release ↓https://t.co/yKQdmTE8Me
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) September 6, 2025