They REALLY Love the Price

On a day when Dan Ellis went for $3mill / 2yrs, Chris Mason went for $3.7 mill / 2yrs, and Marty Biron went for $1.8mill / 2yrs, Pierre Gauthier signed backup goalie Alex Auld, who played 24 games last year, for $1mill/1yr.

I am scratching my head a little about this. Why trade for Ellis and not sign him at such a favorable rate? Ellis is certainly better than Auld.

Maybe Ellis wanted a guarantee of 40 + games? But then why did Ellis give several interviews in Montreal saying he would be comfortable playing behind Price? Maybe that’s what he said in public but felt otherwise in private?

Or, is the salary cap really that tight that even an extra $500k would cause issues for Pierre Gauthier? Maybe Gauthier really is planning to keep Dominic Moore, and wants to save every penny? But then why not sign Biron, who comes in even cheaper, and can mentor Carey and take the heat off of him with the press? Maybe Gauthier didn’t want to give him a two-year deal and didn’t want to run the risk of having the local press jeer on Carey in favor of homeboy Biron?

Or, maybe, with so many of the big name free agents already signed, Gauthier has some other kind of trade up his sleeve to get a player like Frolov? I still can’t see this happening, but maybe.

In Auld, Gauthier gets a very low-cost goalie, who is younger than 30, has a lot of international experience and has put up some decent numbers. Maybe decent enough that Gauthier thinks the extra $500k going to Ellis could be better spent elsewhere?

But I can’t help but think that getting Auld also serves as some kind of peace offering to Carey Price as well. Think about it: Auld is the same size as Price, so goalie coach Pierre Groulx will work with both goalies the same way, so Auld and Price will be learning off the same page. This limits the potential for any confusion. Auld also comes from the West Coast, too. Added bonus for BC native Price.

But maybe its because Auld is clearly not going to be a number 1 goalie, that makes him so attractive to Gauthier. Price will never be threatened by Auld or fear that his job is always at risk. No Halak breathing down his back.If Gauthier had signed Ellis, I imagine the possibility would have always existed that Ellis could have taken over.

Two things are for sure, I think:

1 – Gauthier has a lot of faith in Price: Price will play A LOT of games. We already knew that.

2- Price’s contract will cost more than we originally thought. There is no other explanation for why Gauthier would go for Auld, when marginally more expensive, but much better goalies were available. The only reason I can think of, barring an attempt at keeping Moore or some other move, is that Price is asking for $2.5 – $3million / year, minimum, and that puts more pressure on the cap.

I hope I am wrong about this. I hope the Auld signing comes down to money / something else in the works. But if it doesn’t, signing Auld, to me, looks like the Habs are once again coddling a player who has not yet fully earned the mantle of Number One Goalie.

This really does strike me as weird.