For years, Montreal Canadiens team news has lived in the long shadow of Carey Price’s knee, his LTIR status, and an ever-present question—what next? On September 5, 2025, the Canadiens moved Price’s contract to the San Jose Sharks, attaching a 2026 fifth-round pick and receiving defense prospect Gannon Laroque. It’s a tidy, respectful end to a complex cap chapter: Price hasn’t played since 2022, and Montreal had relied on LTIR relief from his $10.5 million cap hit. The trade is more than a line on CapFriendly—it’s closure for fans who grew up on 31’s poise and calm, and clarity for hockey ops as the rebuild turns a corner.
In human terms, the moment landed with a mix of gratitude and relief. Price’s message to fans—the humility, the acknowledgment of what Montreal means to him—felt like a proper sign-off, even if the ice-level goodbye happened years back. For a room that’s now built around Nick Suzuki’s quiet steel and Cole Caufield’s flair, removing the administrative “what about Price?” from every deadline or July 1 conversation matters. It lets Montreal Canadiens team news be about the actual Montreal Canadiens again.
| Player | 2025 Status | Team/Contract | Why it matters for Montreal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carey Price | Contract traded from Canadiens | Traded to San Jose Sharks with a 2026 5th for D prospect Gannon Laroque on Sep 5, 2025 | Ends an era, clarifies LTIR/cap mechanics and closes the book on a franchise icon. |
| Victor Mete | Unrestricted free agent | No current NHL deal after prior Flyers contract; UFA into 2025–26 | Former Habs D still on the market; depth option but not in current Montreal plans. |
| Tomas Tatar | Signed in Europe | Two-year deal with EV Zug (Swiss NL) after UFA summer | Ex-Habs winger off NHL market; not a 2025–26 option for Montreal depth. |
| Jonathan Drouin | New NHL home | Signed two-year deal with New York Islanders (reported $4M AAV) | Former Canadien revitalized his value; story shifts from “what if in MTL” to a new Atlantic Division storyline. |
Life after Price: how the crease looks and why it fits the timeline
With the Price chapter closed, the Canadiens’ goalie arc is refreshingly straightforward. Samuel Montembeault got back to work, Jacob Fowler flashed promise in preseason, and the staff can evaluate without a legacy-size asterisk hanging over every chart. When your rebuild is built on pace and layers, stability in net is oxygen. Montreal’s preseason notes and daily camp rundowns read like a normal hockey club again—lines, taxiing prospects, incremental wins. That’s a quiet but meaningful shift in Montreal Canadiens team news.
Victor Mete: a familiar name, a different moment
Victor Mete’s story in 2025 is subtly different from the burst of speed fans remember from his first Habs tour. After stints with Ottawa, Toronto and Philadelphia, and a one-year Flyers deal in 2023–24, Mete entered 2025–26 as an unrestricted free agent. He remains unsigned heading into camp season, a puck-moving depth option if injuries hit somewhere, but not part of Montreal’s present-tense plans. For a fan base that values skating and first passes, it’s easy to remember the early promise; the reality now is that Montreal’s left side has its own young queue, and the timing just isn’t there.
Tomas Tatar: goodbye, again—this time across the Atlantic
If you map out the arcs of the last half-decade of Montreal Canadiens team news, Tomas Tatar is one of those delightful regular-season engines fans loved. In 2025, his path took him out of the NHL altogether: he signed a two-year deal with EV Zug in Switzerland. For Montreal watchers, that puts a firm period on the “is Tatar available for a cheap depth look?” question that tends to pop each summer. The Habs have been moving younger and faster; Tatar, at 34, chases minutes, puck touches and a starring role in Europe. Everyone wins.
Jonathan Drouin: the story moves to Long Island, but Montreal will still feel it
Jonathan Drouin’s Montreal chapter was always going to be complicated—local kid, elite vision, bursts of brilliance, and stretches when it didn’t quite land. Colorado helped him reset, and July 1, 2025 made it official: Drouin signed a two-year deal with the New York Islanders, with multiple outlets reporting a $4 million AAV. From a Canadiens lens, that’s both a feel-good coda and an Atlantic Division wrinkle. He’ll see Montreal multiple times a season, likely in prime minutes, with his playmaking stapled to Bo Horvat and a coach in Patrick Roy who demands details. It’s a fresh start that also writes a new subplot into every Islanders-Canadiens date on the calendar.
What this all means for Montreal’s 2025–26 rhythm
The thread running through this batch of Montreal Canadiens team news is simplicity. With Price’s contract no longer an LTIR-cap-table thesis, general manager Jeff Gorton and executive VP of hockey ops Jeff Kent Hughes can spend energy on the next core layers—not cap gymnastics. The forward pyramid is clearer, the D pipeline is crowded in a healthy way, and the crease has a path that doesn’t require mystical thinking.
You can see the club’s posture in small details from camp updates: honest competitions, kids pushing, veterans returning from knocks, and a staff that’s not guarding against a headline-size distraction. Preseason results barely matter, but the noise level does. This September, it’s hockey noise—lines, matchups, looks—not salary-cap algebra. That’s progress.
A quick reality check on rumor season
September is rumor month, and Montreal’s market loves a blockbuster whisper. Some reports have linked the Habs to massive names or speculative pivots around the division. Fun? Absolutely. Foundation for an editorial plan? Not really. The one piece of hard, era-ending fact is the Price trade. Drouin’s move is official. Tatar’s door is closed for NHL clubs for now. Mete’s status is open-ended but outside Montreal. Everything else belongs in the “maybe” bucket until a team account or NHL transaction wire stamps it. That disciplined filter matters for anyone covering Montreal Canadiens team news.
The fan feeling
Ask a Habs fan what this stretch feels like and you’ll hear two notes at once: gratitude for Price—the nights he straight-up decided games—and a satisfied exhale that the rebuild can proceed without contractual caveats. There’s also a soft spot for the ex-Habs diaspora: Drouin getting another swing, Tatar chasing big minutes in Switzerland, Mete looking for the right fit. These are human careers. Montreal Canadiens team news is richer when we remember that.
Outlook: fewer ghosts, more growth
Montreal’s arc is still about development, not declarations. But when the headlines stop being dominated by yesterday’s cap math, runway appears. It looks like more touches for young defensemen, more chemistry bets up front, and a crease that develops on merit, not myth. It looks like a team that knows what it is in September and tries to be a little more than that by March.
As the 2025–26 season kicks off, the Canadiens’ storyline is no longer “waiting on a legend’s contract” or “hoping a familiar name circles back.” It’s simply: build, evaluate, push. For a franchise that thrives on identity, that’s the most energizing news of all.
Montreal Canadiens Team News FAQs
What exactly did the Carey Price trade change for the Canadiens?
It removed the final administrative anchor of Price’s $10.5 million cap hit from Montreal’s books, eliminating the need to rely on LTIR and simplifying longer-term cap planning. It also symbolically ended an era, letting the roster and room define themselves without constant Price-era references.
Is Victor Mete an option to return to Montreal?
As of late September 2025, Mete is an unrestricted free agent without a contract. Nothing stops a reunion in theory, but Montreal’s depth chart and age curve point internally.
Could Tomas Tatar sign mid-season back in the NHL?
He signed a two-year deal with EV Zug in Switzerland. Players can and do return from Europe, but for 2025–26 he’s committed overseas, so Montreal depth plans should assume he’s not available.
Why is Jonathan Drouin’s move relevant to Montreal now that he’s gone?
He joined a division rival, the New York Islanders, on a two-year deal, which means frequent meetings and a fresh comparison point for his post-Montreal evolution. It also reframes the Drouin discourse—from “could it have worked here?” to “how do you defend him now?”
What should fans watch in camp and early season games?
The goalie rotation stabilizing behind Montembeault, growth from the young defense corps, and line chemistry in the middle-six. The club’s official updates and morning-skate lines are the best barometer of where the staff’s head is at, day-to-day.
