Rumor: Carey Price to be traded upon his return.

The Montreal Canadiens have effectively run out of meaningful games this season with their team mathematically eliminated from any hope of making the Stanley Cup playoffs this season. It was a crushing realization for many a Canadiens fan that had just witnessed his team advance all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, and as a result many have already turned their gazes towards the future.

One of the biggest question marks regarding that future surrounds the health of star goaltender Carey Price, the organization's biggest star and also its highest paid player. Price has been sidelined for the entirety of the regular season thus far but in spite of that the Canadiens have not conclusively ruled him out for what few games remain on the schedule. This week during an episode of the 32 Thoughts Podcast, National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman commented on that curious decision and dropped a very interesting hint about Price's potential future.

"Do we see Carey Price again?" asked Friedman on the podcast. "That's the only other thing for the rest of the season that I look at with them. Because if Carey Price comes back and plays, then I think there's a chance he's playing somewhere else next year."

"I could see Carey Price coming back and playing somewhere else," echoed co-host Jeff Marek.

Both Friedman and Marek left open the possibility that Carey Price could simply choose not to return to play at all. Both men questioned how much of a toll his body has taken over the years and even suggested he could go the way of fellow Canadiens teammate Shea Weber. That being said that both men believe that the possibility of a trade involving Carey Price exists on the horizon is very telling about the current direction of the Montreal Canadiens.

Friedman also added that he feels the Canadiens will need to put Price in for at least a few games this season if they intend to trade him in the offseason.

"I see it being extremely difficult for him to get traded if he doesn't play a game between now and the end of the season," said Friedman. "If he does get into a few games then I could see the possibility of it."