From the Press Box: Priceless Habs Losing Value

Remember how the Canadiens rolled to a first-place finish in the Atlantic Division and were considered a legitimate Stanley Cup contender for much of last season? The one guy who earned much of the credit for that success was Carey Price, the Habs' all-world goalie. He was suitably rewarded for a remarkable season when he collected four major NHL awards, including the Vezina and Hart trophies.

It's worth noting that the Hart is awarded annually "to the player judged most valuable to his team." Well, the Canadiens have found out just how valuable Carey Price is to their team this season. Price has appeared in only 12 of their first 43 games, posting a 10-2 record. Without him in their net, the Habs have produced a 13-15-3 record – numbers befitting the league's bottom-feeders.

As it stands, the club is still holding onto a playoff spot, but there are four non-playoff clubs within four points of Montreal's total.

We're seeing a pretty clear picture of what the Canadiens are without their star goalie. They have only four skaters who have even reached the 10-goal plateau; one of them, Dale Weise, is truly a bottom-six forward who has regressed to career norms, notching only two goals in his last 15 games. That underscores the perception coming into this season that these Habs do not generate much offense and can only compete when Price is in top form.

The sad reality in Montreal is that Price is just now starting to get back on the ice and is still weeks away from a return. Meanwhile, off-ice distractions and outbursts have been popping up in the background. You don't often see these sorts of headlines from winning teams.

If they can't tread water until Price returns, the Habs will soon be out of a playoff spot, and it's long been established in this era of three-point games making up ground in the waning stages of the season is a tough task.

Not many people saw the Canadiens as a non-playoff team coming into the season, and that could be a big headline in early April. It could also lead to significant changes in Montreal. Don't pull the grass over the Habs' coffin just yet, though. They could survive if they stabilize things long enough to welcome Price back to the fold and resume their early-season trajectory.

It's just kind of fun for all the Habs' haters out there, me included, to enjoy their current plight.

Kings' Kopitar nearing contract extension

Anze Kopitar has consistently been one of the Kings' top scorers for the Kings since he burst into the league in 2006. The big native of the former Yugoslavia has been that prototypical centerpiece that every contending team covets, and he now finds himself in the final year of a contract that carries a cap hit of $6.8 million. Kopitar's once again the Kings' leading point producer (35) as well as one of the league's best two-way players (plus-17). He's still only 28 years old and figures to be similarly productive for many more years.

While his case has not received the coverage that Steven Stamkos has garnered, Kopitar's is no less compelling. He has been a key figure in two Cup wins for the Kings and has been well worth every penny they have invested in him to date.

It looks like the Kings' management has observed what the Blackhawks did, in resigning their signature players, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. Those two decorated stars are each in the first year of identical eight-year pacts, which each carry an annual $10.5 million cap hit.

Those contracts appear to have set the current market for superstar players. The rumored annual cap hit for Kopitar's soon-to-be-announced deal will be in the area of $10 million per year, probably for eight seasons.

That would seem to be good information for other general managers around the league, who can now point to three players who have been central to their teams' ultimate successes in recent years. In effect, these deals have set a current ceiling for the entire NHL player market, including a certain Mr. Stamkos.

That's not to say that Los Angeles management is operating free and clear of concerns when the ink is dry on this deal.

The Kings have been among the league's most successful franchises in recent years and have already had to reward other key components with their own long-term, big-dollar deals, leaving themselves little wiggle room under a salary cap that may not rise very much in the next year.

With lots of money already committed next season, the Kings may have no choice but to let Milan Lucic leave in free agency, helping them find a way to retain winger Trevor Lewis and promising defender Brayden McNabb, among others.

Such are the cap issues that dog the most successful teams around a league that attempts to create some semblance of parity.

Coyotes rising like a phoenix

The Coyotes have risen to second place in the Pacific Division on the strength of a 7-1-2 string of success in their last 10 games. That's quite a turnaround for a team that was 29th in the standings last season.

It would be easy to cite the contributions of rookies Max Domi (31 points) and Anthony Duclair (24 points) – third and fifth, respectively, in team scoring. Obviously, they've made an immediate impact and deserve credit for bringing a new level of enthusiasm as well as their talents to this roster.

However, other players merit their own share of the praise for the current successes in one of the league's least publicized markets.

Arizona actually has six players, including the two rookies, on pace to score more than 20 goals this season. The feel-good story among these offensive contributors is 39-year-old captain Shane Doan, whose team-leading 15 tallies in 33 games also represent a career-high rate. He's been an important mentor for this young team and has fostered great camaraderie in the dressing room.

At 26 years old, Mikkel Boedker is already in his eighth NHL season, and he's fashioned a career-best scoring pace (32 points in 42 games) to date as well while assuming more of a leadership role. Add in sophomore Tobias Rieder, who has already topped his rookie point total, and you have the makings of a pretty solid offensive core.

Martin Hanzal, who's shown flashes of strong offensive ability in an injury-marred career, is on the best scoring pace of his career as well, though he's again spent time on injured reserve.

Despite all this unexpected offensive production, the Coyotes' season could have come unglued when starting goalie Mike Smith went out with a sports hernia in mid-December. With Arizona's longtime netminder out 8-to-10 weeks, rookie Louis Domingue has stepped into the breach and been nothing short of sensational. In 11 appearances, he has a 7-2-1 record and a very impressive 2.14 GAA, so the Coyotes haven't missed a beat in goal. In fact, they've been better with Domingue than they were in front of Smith.

Of course, this club still features top blueliner Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who's once again driving the offense from the back end – he's tied with Boedker for the team lead in points and is yet another Coyote on a career-best pace. Michael Stone is emerging as another source of scoring punch, with 18 points now on his ledger.

It's unclear whether the Coyotes have the depth to deal with more injuries up front or the endurance to keep up their recent pace, but their sudden transformation into serious playoff contenders has been one of the league's most surprising and positive stories in the season's first half.