Should the Toronto Maple Leafs Be Scared of Carey Price?

MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 10: Jesperi Kotkaniemi #15 and goaltender Carey Price #31 of the Montreal Canadiens react as Ilya Mikheyev #65 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates his goal during the third period at the Bell Centre on February 10, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-2. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 10: Jesperi Kotkaniemi #15 and goaltender Carey Price #31 of the Montreal Canadiens react as Ilya Mikheyev #65 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates his goal during the third period at the Bell Centre on February 10, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-2. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

Carey Price is expected to start in net for the Montreal Canadiens, but should the Toronto Maple Leafs be scared of him?

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens begin their series on Thursday, and one of the biggest question marks is how Habs goalie Carey Price will perform fresh off the injured reserve.

It’s been six years since Price had one of the best goaltending seasons in hockey history. During the 2014-15 campaign, the netminder posted a 44-16-6 record, .933 SV%, 1.96 GAA and recorded nine shutouts (stats: hockeydb.com).

He was the best goaltender on the planet and was awarded the Vezina Trophy and Hart Trophy for his performance. Goaltenders infrequently win the MVP award, so it was a rare and special moment for the now 33-year-old netminder.

Although Price has the hardware to say he’s one of the best goalies in the league, he’s overrated.

Besides an unbelievable stretch of hockey from 2014-2015, Price hasn’t been that good. He’s still an above average netminder in the NHL, but he’s never regained the heights of that season. Like many players, and especially goalies, he had a hot-streak that wasn’t sustainable.

If Price was the same goalie he was in 2015, we wouldn’t be talking about Montreal as the No. 4 seed in the North Division. Instead, they would’ve been Stanley Cup favorites.

Carey Price Will Not Stop the Toronto Maple Leafs Offense

If you take away the hardware Price won half a decade ago, he’s just another goalie. With a career .917 SV% and 2.50 GAA, he’s easily beatable.

Also, even if Price does turn back the clock and puts on a magical performance, the Leafs offense will be too much during a seven-game series. Led by Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares, the core-four is going to make Price’s job a nightmare whenever they step on the ice.

I understand that Price had flashes of brilliance during the NHL Bubble last year, but that was different. Nobody had played in five months and the first round was five games, instead of seven. In that short timeframe, anything can happen.

With the playoffs back to a somewhat normalized format, there’s no reason to believe that Price can win four games by himself and help his Canadiens team stop Toronto from finally winning a playoff round.

At the end of the day, Price is just a flashy name. He’s that toy in the box that was amazing to play with 10 years ago, but his batteries are now dying and the buttons are falling apart. When everything goes right, it works perfectly, but more times than not, there’s an issue.

Toronto should have zero worries about facing Price and should more concerned about what they can control. If their power-play gets going and they continue to score goals at a rapid pace 5v5, they’re going to be just fine.

Even if Toronto is just average, it’s hard to see a world where the Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in a series.

Next. Jack Campbell is Modern Day Version of Grant Fuhr. dark

Get ready for a quick one, Leafs fans. Toronto winning in five games seems like the right prediction for round one.