Carey Price signs eight-year extension with Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens have locked up goalie Carey Price, their most important player, to a contract that will last until 2026, the team announced Sunday.

The eight-year deal that will begin in the 2018-19 season is worth an average of $10.5 million per season, according to reports. It ties Price, 29, with only Chicago Blackhawks forwards Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews as the richest per-season cap hit. But it's unlikely it will last long as Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid is on the brink of a contract that will pay him at least $13 million per season, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman. 

Price will become the highest-paid goalie when the contract begins, surpassing Henrik Lundqvist’s seven-year, $59.5 million deal ($8.5 million cap hit) that began in 2014-15.

Price will finish his previous deal, at $6.5 million, this upcoming season.

The 2014-15 MVP and Vezina trophy winner posted a 2.23 goals-against average, .923 save percentage and a 37-20-5 record this season. Price has a career 2.40 GAA and .920 SV% in his 10-season career, all spent with Montreal. A knee injury cost him most of the 2015-16 season – he only played 12 games  – but he bounced back to play in 62 games in 2016-17.