Canadiens' Carey Price Has Surgery on Knee Injury, Will Be Ready for '21-22 Season

The Montreal Canadiens announced Friday that star goaltender Carey Price underwent knee surgery.

He's expected to be out for 10 to 12 weeks and should be back to full health when the team opens the 2021-22 NHL season on Oct. 13 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

News of the procedure doesn't come as a surprise. TSN's Pierre LeBrun reported July 18 that Price was going to solicit medical guidance for an unspecified knee injury.

General manager Marc Bergevin also downplayed the severity of the situation.

"Nothing alarming as we speak," he told reporters Thursday. "As you know, Carey played every minute of the playoffs and he performed very well. ... He's seeing the doctor the end of this week. We're not expecting anything major."

Ahead of the expansion draft, LeBrun reported Price waived his no-movement clause, thus becoming eligible for the Seattle Kraken. Seattle passed on the 33-year-old and instead agreed to a three-year, $10.5 million deal with Chris Driedger.

The knee injury and impending surgery may have been considerations for the Kraken, as was Price's contract. He earns $10.5 million annually for the next five seasons.

That the 2015 Vezina Trophy winner is expected to be ready for opening night is obviously good news for the Canadiens. He's coming off a 2020-21 campaign in which he finished with a .901 save percentage and 2.64 goals-against average.