MONTREAL - When Carey Price was drafted, it was with the foresight that he could one day ascend through the ranks of great Montreal goaltenders the Canadiens have been blessed with throughout their rich history.

Despite the bumps and bruises along the way, Price is quickly climbing his way to the top.

Comparisons to Patrick Roy and Ken Dryden are grossly unfair, but the goaltender from Anahim Lake, B.C., may one day be grouped among them if he can bring this era's team a Stanley Cup win or two.

Last night's start against Atlanta was Price's 54th of the season.

It would've been his 55th had he not been ailing on Saturday when the Carolina Hurricanes were in town.

After 56 appearances overall, Price has a goals against average of 2.38 (the best of his four-year NHL career).

His save percentage of .921 eclipses his career best, set in 2007-08 as a rookie on the East's best team.

He's notched more shutouts this year (6) than in his other three NHL seasons combined (5).

Price is on pace to start 69 games this season, and if he does, that will mean he'll have appeared in 71 of the 82 games on the schedule.

By the end of this season, provided he stays on the pace he's currently set for, the 23-year old Price will have played 205 NHL games.

In Dryden's first full season, he played 64 games and notched a 2.24 goals against average.

It was the most he ever played in one season, over his career.

Dryden played 236 NHL games in his first four years, and by the end of that time, he was 27 years old.

The year after Patrick Roy won Montreal its last Stanley Cup, he played 68 games and notched a 2.50 goals against average.

He never played more in a season. By the end of his fourth NHL season, Roy had played a total of 186 games, at 23 years old.

Price's Canadiens will never resemble Dryden's crew of perennial winners.

Patrick Roy may have authored two Montreal Cups on underdog teams, but they scored enough for him to slide through 1985-86 with a 3.35 GAA and an 875 SA%.

They scored enough for him in '92-93 to win 31 of 62 games with a 3.05 GAA and an .895 SA%.

The team Price had achieved his previous NHL-bests for (the Canadiens in 2007-2008) led the league in goals for, with 262. This year's version ranks 23rd in the category, with 168 goals in 64 games.

And though it may not only be about the numbers, what Price has achieved--with more than 75% of this season expired--shows you the progressive path his career is on.

In the 30 games the Canadiens have scored three or more goals for Price: 23-3-4.

In the 30 games Price has allowed two goals or less: 26-2-2.

Including his six shutouts, Price has allowed a goal or less in 17 of his 54 starts.

Price is 7-3-2 when facing 35+ shots, and 2-1-1 when facing 40+.

In the 26 games, in which the Canadiens failed to score more than two goals, he's still managed 14 points in the standings for them (6 W, 2 OTL).

As I stated before, the numbers only tell part of the story.

The rest of it is about his revival from the abyss he was buried in for an entire calendar year preceding this season; a revival that's had the Canadiens sitting pretty in a playoff spot for the entire season.

It's about a 23-year old man who was anything but at 22.

It's about a person thrust in what's generally conceded as the highest pressure-position in all of sports, delivering much more than what was expected of him.

It's about the growth of an individual that may very well earn the comparisons unfairly thrust upon him as a 20-year old rookie--a true thoroughbred.

One thing's for sure, at $2.75 mil on the cap, Price is among the league's most valuable players. Can you think of others earning as much or less, providing as much value to their respective teams?