Montreal Canadiens: Keith Kinkaid reassigned to Charlotte Checkers

The Montreal Canadiens haven’t had a consistent home for Michael McNiven all season but finally figured out their goaltender situation with the Laval Rocket by loaning out Keith Kinkaid for the remainder of the season.

To say that Keith Kinkaid’s season with the Montreal Canadiens has been disappointing is a gross understatement.

After a rocky start to his 2018-19 season with the New Jersey Devils, a trade to a Columbus Blue Jackets team whose faith was in Sergei Bobrovsky saw Kinkaid riding the bench and only the bench. Heading into the offseason as a free agent, Kinkaid was seen as a serviceable backup option for a number of teams. Just 2 years prior, the Farmingville, New York native racked a 26-10 record with a New Jersey Devils team that rode Taylor Hall and a strong defense into a surprise post season birth.

In the end, it was the Canadiens who won out, signing him to a 1 year, 1.75-million-dollar deal after Antti Niemi had been let go following a rocky campaign, with the team needing a reliable second option to Carey Price. There was hope Kinkaid could be that guy, but as we’ve found out, that wasn’t the case.

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A lack of any playing time in Columbus for 5 months obviously didn’t help matters, but even still Kinkaid simply looked out of form, recording a 1-1-3 record in 6 games with a 4.24 GAA, resulting in him being sent down to the AHL’s Laval Rocket. Things didn’t get much better down there either, with him recording a 3-7-3 record with a 3.44 GAA. Being that the Rocket are in a tight fought race for the final playoff spot in the AHL’s eastern conference, those are games they’d probably want to take back.

With Cayden Primeau establishing himself as the teams starter and future in net, Michael McNiven playing admirably in his limited starts in the ECHL, and Charlie Lindgren being the temporary backup to Price at the moment, Kinkaid has been slowly pushed out of the teams depth chart and overall organizational picture. All this had led to the ultimate of roster demotions, with the 6’1 netminder recalled to the Charlotte Checkers, the Carolina Hurricanes AHL affiliate.

Following injuries to both Petr Mrazek and James Reimer, leading to EBUG David Ayres having to step in for 2 periods, the Hurrcicanes have had to recall both their AHL goalies, Alex Nedeljkovic and Anton Forsberg, bringing in the need for Kinkaid. Goaltender Mike Condon has been recalled from ECHL Orlando, but he hasn’t seen substantial game action in 2 years and has dealt with injuries. Because of this, Kinkaid should take the majority of starts until the team’s goalie situation clears up.

In many ways, this is Kinkaid’s chance to prove the hockey world that he’s still worth a contract come next July 1st. At 31 years old, he’s past his prime for sure, but could still offer a reliable enough backup option for an AHL team if he can simply get over the consistency and work ethic issues that have plagued him so far this year. There’s still a chance for him to regain the form of years’ past, but it’s a slim one, with this fresh start hopefully being a good way to kickstart some success and more importantly, wins, with the Checkers also fighting to keep a playoff spot.

The Rocket should get along fine with Primeau and McNiven in net, with both having proven their ability at the AHL level, and Connor Lacouvee is still performing admirably with ECHL Maine and was a great backup option last year. The team continues to be on and off in terms of their success, but their seems to be an uphill trend and it’ll be interesting to see how things progress.

Kinkaid shouldn’t take this reassignment as further demoralization, with him already expressing his frustration over Primeau getting called up over him recently, and instead should see it as a fresh start, being that this could be the difference maker for him come July 1st. It’s a similar situation to Michael McCarron, who is also playing for his future with the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL after the Canadiens inked him to his 2nd 1 year deal this past July.

The AHL is a tough league to stick around in, especially for players without NHL contracts to their name. I’m hopeful Kinkaid can turn things around and rediscover his game, going to a similarly defensively sound Checkers team, but his performance thus far certainly hasn’t helped matters, and it remains to be seen how things turn out. It’s been an on and off season across the Canadiens organization, one that, much like Keith Kinkaid, is in need of fresh start.