In Hainsight: Montembeault Signed to a Three-Year Extension

Carey Price‘s premature retirement has left the Canadiens in a bit of a jam goaltender-wise. Jake Allen had been acquired to act as a back-up to the franchise goaltender and he suddenly found himself playing much more games than his body could handle. Cayden Primeau, who was once projected to be Price’s successor, was struggling in the minors, unable to perform consistently, but thankfully, in October 2021, the Florida Panthers waived Samuel Montembeault. Much like the Habs now, the Panthers had a crowded crease with Bobrovsky, Montembeault and heir apparent Spencer Knight. Since then, Montembeault has progressed by leaps and bounds, even backstopping Canada to an unexpected gold medal at the last World Championships.

This season, Montembeault is stuck in a “ménage à trois” with Jake Allen and Cayden Primeau since the later has to clear waivers to be sent to Laval. Kent Hughes clearly fears losing him since some teams inquired about his availability last Summer. As a result, Montembeault has played 10 games this season, Allen nine and Primeau five. Out of the three, Montembeault is the only one who has a goal-against average under three, and he’s got the highest save percentage (Allen has a 3.59 GAA and a .903 SP, while Primeau has a 3.73 GAA and a .886 SP).

Montreal drafted three goaltenders at the last draft, and they’ll be hoping that one of them matures to be a true number one, but until then, they needed someone to keep their future seat warm, and that man will be Samuel Montembeault or so it seems right now anyways. Hughes signed the 27-year-old Becancour, Québec native, to a three-year extension with a $3.15 million cap hit, which is $ 700,000 less than Jake Allen, who still has one year to go on his current contract. Recently, Hockey Night in Canada insider Elliotte Friedman reported the Edmonton Oilers had interest in Montembeault but were concerned by the fact he would be a free agent at the end of the current season. This is no longer the case.

According to the Canadiens’ press release, the contract doesn’t include a no-trade clause, meaning that this could potentially be a sign-and-trade deal. However, so far this season, Montembeault has been the best goaltender for the Canadiens and I would think long and hard before trading him. Of course, there are now a few goaltenders that are looking good in the minors, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll pan out. Something has got to give, though; keeping three goaltenders on the roster and alternating them can hardly satisfy them all. Furthermore, Primeau’s development is far from done, and keeping him with the big club, inactive more often than not, is probably harmful to said development. What could the Canadiens do, though? They’re not keen on losing Primeau on waivers, but Allen and Primeau hardly have any value on the trade market right now.

It’s one of two things: either the Canadiens will further embrace their rebuild and trade Montembeault, or they’re confident he can be the man for the next three seasons, and they’ll roll the dice on waiving Primeau. If they lose him, the Primeau/Allen tandem could be back from one more season before another goaltender graduates from Laval. So far, both Strauss Mann and Jakub Dobes look like they could use some seasoning before having a go at the NHL, they’ve got 3.53 and 4.23 GAA respectively with .882 and .871 SP.  There’s never a dull day in Habsland, not even when the team has a day off.