Canadiens’ Montembeault Wants Not Part Of A Three-way Rotation In Net

In a recent article in La Presse, Richard Labbe reports that Montreal Canadiens’ goaltender Samuel Montembeault has made it clear that he has no interest in riding a goaltending carousel this upcoming season. This is not surprising; after all, the 29-year-old goaltender will be playing his contract year, and after a dreadful season last year, he needs to bounce back; his future is riding on it.

Furthermore, last season, when the Habs voluntarily sidelined him, Montembeault was told by GM Kent Hughes that one bad year is not the end of a goaltender’s career, telling him that Jeremy Swayman went from a bad season to a Vezina Trophy nomination-worthy season. The difference, however, is that Swayman’s abysmal season came after signing a big-money, big-term contract. Still, the fact that Hughes said that to Montembeault created an expectation in the goaltender’s mind that he would have an opportunity to bounce back; according to what he said at the locker room clean-out day, he would like it to be in Montreal.

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Over the years, Montembeault has been a good teammate and rode the goalie carousel twice already, once with Jake Allen and Cayden Primeau and then this past season with Jakub Dobes and Jacob Fowler. After seeing Dobes get a three-year contract extension, which will only kick in at the start of the 2027-28 season, Montembeault knows that the Czech netminder now has the inside lane. If he were to be his backup, he would have a chance to prove to the rest of the NHL that he can still be a good NHL goaltender. Because make no mistake, no matter what happens, the Bécancour native won’t get another extension with the Habs, and playing third fiddle certainly wouldn’t help him convince other GMs around the league that he’s worth a gamble.

Training camp is still a fair way away, but many goaltenders have already moved this offseason while Montembeault has stayed put. Hughes isn’t in the market for selling low, and right now, the goaltender’s stock is as low as it’s been since the Canadiens picked him up on waivers back in 2021. Back then, he was an emergency remedy to Carey Price’s lingering injuries, and the Canadiens didn’t give anything to acquire him. It wouldn’t be a loss to sell low in that instance; it’s not like walking away from Kirby Dach after sacrificing Alexander Romanov to get a first-round pick to acquire him from the Chicago Blackhawks.

There are still teams out there that don’t look like they’re particularly well set in net. The Edmonton Oilers put their eggs in often-injured veteran Frederik Andersen’s basket, who will be backed up by Tristan Jarry (who didn’t impress last season after being acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins). The Oilers did add an insurance policy in Devon Levi, but he has yet to prove he can perform at the NHL level. Connor McDavid is two seasons away from being a UFA, and time is running out for the Oilers to put together a team competitive enough to make their captain want to stay.

There’s been a lot of noise around the Winnipeg Jets being tempted to trade Connor Hellebuyck, and had the Buffalo Sabres been willing to include their fourth overall pick at the last draft in a proposed deal, he would be in the state of New York by now. If they do manage to trade him, though, Winnipeg could become an interesting landing spot for Montembeault. After all, their backup right now is Stuart Skinner, who they signed as a free agent on July 1 to a two-year deal with a $3.75 M cap hit but who hasn’t had impressive numbers in recent years. He’s three seasons removed from posting an above-900 save percentage.

The New Jersey Devils have three goalies on the payroll: Jake Allen, Nico Dawes and David Rittich. That’s not an inspiring trio for a team that’s eager to get back in the playoffs. Rittich has posted .887 and .894 save percentages in the last two seasons and was given a one-year deal with a $1M cap hit. Dawes is 25 years old and has yet to show he’s a real NHL goaltender, and as for Allen, he has historically thrived as a backup, and right now he looks like the number one choice.

Of course, it’s always a possibility that Fowler could be sent down to the AHL, leaving Dobes and Montembeault in Montreal, but I’m just not convinced this is the place where the latter can bounce back like he needs to do. He basically admitted that he put too much pressure on himself last season, and that’s how his troubles started. He was coming to the rink worried about letting goals in; that’s not the right mindset to be in. Will he be able to shake it off under the extreme scrutiny in Montreal? That’s a bigger challenge than it would be if he were able to turn over a new leaf in another market.

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