It was announced on Monday that Montreal Canadiens netminder, Carey Price will be skipping this year's NHL All-Star game, instead choosing to rest and recoup in what has been a less-than-stellar season to date.

On Monday, the Montreal Canadiens announced that their highly-paid goaltender will not be participating in the 2019 NHL All-Star Game. As per the team's official website: "We took the time to discuss the situation with Carey and the medical group earlier today, and we all agreed that the best decision for him would be to rest and recuperate during the upcoming All-Star Break."  They later added in their explanation that "Carey has had a nagging injury for some time, and we want to make sure to have him healthy and rested for the second half of the season." [EMBED_TWITTER]https://twitter.com/CanadiensMTL/status/1082385409777246210[/EMBED_TWITTER] The team also noted that Price was honored to once again have been named to the NHL All-Star Game, and supports the team's decision to rest him. As a result of the team withdrawing Price from the game, Price will now have to sit out either the last game before the break on Jan 23 or the first game after. Given that the Canadiens come back after the break with back to back games Feb 2-3, it is assumed he will sit out Feb 2. This is not a huge concern for the Habs as they likely wouldn't have played price regardless. He simply won't be available in a backup role for that game.

What This Means

The NHL will look to name a replacement for Price as soon as possible. Frederik Andersen of the Toronto Maple Leafs would have been one of the favorites for consideration as he has the top save percentage among No. 1's in the Atlantic Division, but because of a groin injury, won't be able to compete. There is also some speculation that this announcement is less about resting Price and more about finding a way for him to take some time to be present for the birth of his new child. Unfortunately, it's not likely the team will discuss that part of this now that they've said they're resting him due to a nagging injury.

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