Canadiens sign goalie Carey Price to lucrative eight-year extension

Carey Price will soon be the highest-paid goaltender in hockey.

The Montreal Canadiens signed the 29-year-old to an eight-year extension that reportedly carries an annual cap hit of US$10.5 million.

That will surpass Henrik Lundqvist for the top annual mark in the NHL with the New York Rangers netminder currently holding $9.5 million on the cap annually.

READ MORE: Montreal Canadiens agree to terms on five-year deal with defenceman Karl Alzner

WATCH: Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin discusses how some of the negotiations developed culminating in a new eight-year deal for goalie Carey Price.

1:15 Marc Bergevin discusses negotiating a new contract for Cary Price

Price’s new deal doesn’t kick in until the 2018-19 season.

Price, a native of Anahim Lake, B.C., has one year left on a six-year deal signed in July 2012 which carried an annual cap hit of $6.5 million.

WATCH: ‘We’re gonna make sure he finishes a Montreal Canadien’: Bergevin on Price re-signing

0:13 ‘We’re gonna make sure he finishes a Montreal Canadien’: Bergevin on Price re-signing

He was due to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

Price won the Vezina trophy winner as the league’s top goaltender in the 2014-15 season and has the highest save percentage (.923) since the start of the 2011-12 season.