On Thursday night, we learned the worst about Carey Price. According to Kent Hughes, the star goaltender will not be able to start next season and could even miss the entire campaign.
Following this news, Carey's former agent, David Ettedgui, took an interesting look at Kent Hughes' new priority. For him, the CH must focus on finding a replacement for Price and not on filling out the club's offense with players like Pierre-Luc Dubois or Anthony Beauvillier, for example.
Ettedgui says that it will take more than Cayden Primeau if the CH wants to enjoy the heyday of the club's youth in two or three years. According to him, there are enough great pieces on offense and defense, but not yet at the goalie position.
In order to find a new number 1 goalie, Hughes could look at the young active goalies who are established, or almost established, in the last two years. If he were GM, the former agent would call Nashville to inquire about the price for Juuse Saros or Yaroslav Askarov. The price to acquire one of these goaltenders will certainly be high, but when you see how the Hughes/Gorton duo has operated since their arrival, they could probably negotiate an acceptable compromise.
If you think the CH can find a good goalie in the next draft, he wouldn't be ready for the club's peak. The development of a goalie takes several years, something the CH will not have by then. The only valid option at this point is a trade or a signing on the free agent market.
Marc Bergevin has, in a way, wasted Price's best years by not being able to give him a good education. Hughes should not do the opposite by not having the right goalie during the peak of his young team.
