News staff and wire services
Montreal – Ken Dryden, the Hall of Fame goaltender who helped the Montreal Canadiens win six Stanley Cup titles in the 1970s, has died after a fight with cancer. He was 78.
The Canadiens announced the death, saying Dryden’s family asked for privacy.
“Ken Dryden was an exceptional athlete, but he was also an exceptional man,” owner Geoff Molson said. “Behind the mask he was larger than life. We mourn today not only the loss of the cornerstone of one of hockey’s greatest dynasties but also a family man, a thoughtful citizen and a gentleman who deeply impacted our lives and communities across generations.”
Dryden backstopped the NHL’s most successful franchise to the championship in seven of his eight seasons in the league from 1970-71 to ’78-79.
“Ken embodied the best of everything the Montreal Canadiens are about,” Molson said.
Dryden, from Hamilton, Ontario, played three seasons at Cornell University from 1966-69, leading the Big Red to the 1967 NCAA title. He also was a cornerstone of Canada’s 1972 Summit Series team that defeated the Soviet Union.
He ended his playing days at 32, went into broadcasting and wrote “The Game,” one of the best known books about the sport. Dryden was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1983.
Devils sign ex-Red Wing Glendenning
Former Red Wings center Luke Glendenning (Grand Rapids) was one of four players to receive a professional tryout from the New Jersey Devils on Friday.
Glendening, 36, is a veteran of 864 games over 12 NHL seasons with Detroit, the Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning. He played in 77 games for the Lightning last season, scoring three goals and adding four assists.
The Devils also announced PTOs for goaltenders Georgi Romanov and Adam Scheel and forward Kevin Rooney.
Rooney, 32, previously spent time with the Devils from 2016-20, appearing in 95 games over four seasons. The native of Canton, MA spent the past three seasons with the Calgary Flames.
Scheel, 26, was undrafted out of North Dakota and has yet to play in an NHL game. He split last season between the American Hockey League’s Colorado Eagles and the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies.
Romanov, 25, has appeared in 10 NHL games over the past two seasons with the San Jose Sharks. The Yekaterinburg, Russia native is 0-6 for his career with a goals against average of 3.53.
Canadiens trade Price to Sharks
The Montreal Canadiens traded the contract of goaltender Carey Price and a fifth-round draft pick in 2026 to the San Jose Sharks for defenceman Gannon Laroque.
Price is on the final year of his eight-year, $84 million contract which holds a cap hit of $10.5 million.
The move comes after the Canadiens paid Price $5.5 million on Sept. 1 as part of his signing bonus, leaving him owed $2 million for the rest of the season.
Moving Price’s contract gives the Canadiens some cap space to improve their roster without having to wait for the regular season to begin in order to move him to long-term injury reserve.
The 37-year-old has not appeared for the Canadiens since the 2021-22 season after sustaining a significant knee injury.
Price is one of the most decorated goaltenders of his generation after a 15-year career spent entirely with the Canadiens.
He had a career season in 2014-15, posting 44 wins, a .933 save percentage and 1.96 goals-against average, sweeping the NHL awards with the Hart Trophy, Vezina Trophy, Ted Lindsay Award and the William M. Jennings Trophy. He also took home the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy in 2022.
Drafted fifth overall by Montreal in 2005, Price was a seven-time All-Star and had a career 361-261-79 record with a 2.51 GAA and .917 save percentage.
Price also helped lead the Canadiens to a Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2021, going 13-9 with a 2.28 GAA and .924 save percentage before they bowed out to the Lightning.
Derek Ryan retires after 10-year career
Derek Ryan is hanging his skates for good.
The 38-year-old forward announced his retirement on Friday.
Ryan scored 82 goals with 127 assists in 606 games during 10 NHL seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes, Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers.
He appeared in 36 games for the Oilers last season, scoring a goal and adding five assists.
A native of Spokane, WA, Ryan was undrafted out of his hometown Chiefs of the Western Hockey League. He went on to spend four years at the University of Alberta before going pro and playing in Austria for three seasons and Sweden for another. He signed with the Hurricanes organization in 2015.
He made his NHL debut in February of 2016 at the age of 29.
Wild agree to tryout for Leason
The Minnesota Wild agreed to a professional tryout agreement with forward Brett Leason.
Leason, 26, recorded five goals and 17 points in 62 games with the Anaheim Ducks last season.
The 6-foot-5 winger is coming off a one-year, $1.05 million deal and became an unrestricted free agent after the Ducks did not tender him a qualifying offer.
Leason has 25 goals and 54 points in 220 career games split between the Washington Capitals and Ducks.
Want to comment on this story? Become a subscriber today. Click here.