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Starting next season, Canadiens goaltender Carey Price ($10.5 million, all figures U.S.) and defenceman Shea Weber ($7.857M) will account for almost 25 per cent of the team’s total salary. That’s based on the current NHL salary cap of $75 million, which could rise by $5 million to $7 million this summer.

But should the NHL cap reach the highest possible projection ($82 million) Price and Weber — who are on the wrong side of age 30 — will still account for more than 22 per cent of the team’s cap hit. And should the Canadiens, in their desperate and endless search for a legitimate No. 1 centre, solve that 25-year-old riddle, they’ll probably have another gigantic salary-cap hit on the books.

And it means general manager Marc Bergevin will have to go bargain hunting for value contracts, but not for fourth-liners as is usually the case. The Canadiens need players who can slot into the top nine up front and help out on special-teams units — players who work hard yet still manage to produce points.