Carey Price not planning NHL retirement but 'unable to train at a professional level'

Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price, who was placed on the long-term injured reserve list in early September, says he doesn't have a retirement plan "at this moment" and isn't keen on having another knee surgery.

The 35-year-old played five games near the end of last year's NHL regular season but told reporters on Monday at the team's practice facility in Brossard, Que., his rehab "hasn't been successful"  and another knee procedure has a success rate above 50 per cent.

Price first had surgery during the off-season in 2021 after Montreal's run to the Stanley Cup final and subsequent loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

He also endured multiple setbacks in his return to the ice and during that time entered the NHL's player assistance program for substance abuse.

"We'll have to take it step by step. I don't have a plan to retire right at this moment," he said. "Right now, my goal is to just be pain-free from day to day. I'm still having some issues getting up and down stairs and carrying my kids up and down stairs is difficult.

"So my first priority is just to get my body in a place where I'm pain-free in my day-to-day living and go from there."

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Price had a second opinion on his knee injury in Pittsburgh at the conclusion of last season and was suggested to undergo another surgery.

The recommendation left Price feeling unwell and a risk to his overall quality of life. The netminder added he was "not fond" of the idea and called the procedure "intrusive."

"The surgery is called OATS," Price said. "Basically, they're taking a plug of cartilage and bone from a lower area in your knee and placing it in the cartilage-damaged area. It's pretty serious … and from a pessimistic perspective it's like, 'Well, there's 50 per cent chance that it could not work or 30 per cent chance or whatever.'

"It's something, unless I was in dire need of to get through my life, that maybe I would consider at that point but right now I'm looking at my young kids and to play with them day to day is the most important thing for me."

For the time being, Price considers the next step to be continuing the rehab he had already been going through. A lengthy, tedious process that hasn't been successful as of yet.

"That's been the real frustrating part but I've talked to several people that had this type of injury and it's taken over a year for them to start feeling normal," Price said. "So I'm still holding out hope. There's a possibility of another injection but we'll have to see. We just have to continue trying to solve a problem but that surgery is a bit worrisome for me."

There are no spaces with Price's name anymore in the Canadiens' dressing room at the Bell Centre. It's a telling change for veteran players like Brendan Gallagher, who lived the highs and lows of the team's recent history alongside Price.