Evaluating The In-House Solutions To The Montreal Canadiens’ Backup Goalie Problem
The Montreal Canadiens must evaluate if they have an in-house solution to their backup goalie problem before they decide to look for one in free agency.
As the dust settles on the Montreal Canadiens season, getting Carey Price a reliable backup goalie is one major issue Marc Bergevin and company must focus on solving as soon as possible.
Despite Price’s heroic playoff performance, relying on him to play 60 to 65 games a season is not only unrealistic but dangerous to his long-term ability to be the all-world goalie the team expects him to be.
The Canadiens absolutely need a backup goalie to not only be a reliable partner to Price but also have the capability to win the majority of the games he starts.
Price arguably hasn’t had a reliable backup goalie since the days of Jaroslav Halak all the way back in the 2009-2010 season, and even then, Halak was the team’s 1B goalie option and took the starter’s job away from Price as the season progressed.
Mike Condon looked promising for a while until a disastrous month derailed his career in Montreal. In the 2016-2017 season, Al Montoya seemed to be the perfect fit as Price’s backup until one bad game too many had him shipped off to the Edmonton Oilers for a conditional 4th-round pick.
Most recently, Antti Niemi looked sharp in his first season as Price’s backup but quickly fell out of favour after posting a terrible 8-6-2 record with a 3.78 GAA in his last season as a Hab.
Since then, Price has all but stood alone in the crease, playing in 124 games since the 2018-2019 season.
That’s a huge workload for any goalie. For instance, Braden Holtby has played 107 games since the 2018-2019 season; Andrei Vasilevskiy, only 105 games during the same time frame.
So what can the Canadiens do? Looking at the team’s depth chart, there are three realistic in-house possibilities: Charlie Lindgren, Cayden Primeau, and the mysterious, yet intriguing, Vasili Demchenko.
Let’s see if one of these potential backup goalies can solidify the position, shall we?
Charlie Lindgren
Career NHL stats: 24 GP – 10 W – 12 L – 2 OTL – 3.00 GAA – .907 SV% – 2 SO
Is Charlie Lindgren really an NHL goalie?
Based on his stats, there’s a lot to be desired.
Lindgren has yet to establish himself as an NHL regular even though he was once one of the most sought-after free agent goalies out of the NCAA’s St. Cloud State University. After an impressive series of games, Lindgren stumbled and was relegated to the AHL in favour of Antti Niemi.
Unfortunately, Lindgren has not inspired confidence during his time in the Laval Rocket crease. In 134 career AHL games, he’s posted a very average 2.89 GAA, .897 SV%, 50 wins, 57 losses, 23 overtime losses, and 8 shutouts.
In a pregame interview on March 1, 2020, head coach Claude Julien told Sportsnet’s Eric Engels that:
The goal is not to ride Pricer into the ground. The goal is obviously, as you saw tonight, to give Charlie an opportunity to play here. And if he plays well, then why not?
If he’s to claim the backup role behind Price, Lindgren is going to have to do way better.
Cayden Primeau
Career NHL Stats: 2 GP – 1 W – 1 L – 2.52 GAA – .931 SV%
Much has been said about Cayden Primeau‘s incredible potential. The 21-year-old netminder has already drawn comparisons to Carey Price, and in the eyes of many fans, Primeau is the heir apparent.
But is he ready for a full-time NHL position?
It’s hard to say based on only two games of NHL experience, but Primeau has shown that he can be steady under pressure and make huge saves when he needs to.
One wrinkle to this plan is that if Primeau folds under the pressure of playing up to 35 games a season, the Habs must once again increase Price’s workload. And despite their brotherly relationship, the last thing Price needs right now is to babysit a “little brother.”
The Canadiens have a bad habit of rushing prospects before they’re ready, and because goalies are voodoo, the Habs would do well to let Primeau develop and play a full season as Laval‘s starter under the tutelage of Joël Bouchard.
Vasili Demchenko
Career Stats (Russia): 212 GP – 81 W – 86 L – 25 OTL – 2.37 GAA – .925 SV% – 14 SO
The 26-year-old KHL veteran signed a one-year entry-level contract with the Canadiens on April 21, 2020. As with many KHL players, there are a lot of questions marks surrounding Demchenko.
In his first full KHL season in 2015-2016 with Traktor Chelyabinsk, Demchenko posted a 16-20-10 record in 48 games along with a 2.32 GAA and a .922 save percentage. In his five-year stint with the team, Traktor made the KHL playoffs three times.
One stat that stands out for Demchenko is a glittering career .925 save percentage. Keep in mind that Demchenko achieved this playing backup minutes for the most part.
While he’s never played more than 48 games in a season, his experience and goaltending pedigree makes him an intriguing option to backup Price next season.
One thing is for sure: whether Demchenko can deliver or not, his signing sends a clear message to the organization’s goalies that they’ll need to step up their game if they want a chance at that coveted backup spot.
Final word:
Looking at these three options, there’s no obvious in-house solution to the Canadiens’ backup goalie problem. It’ll take a huge training camp from one of them to be considered for a spot, and even then, nothing is guaranteed.
Perhaps the Habs would be better suited to finding a reliable, NHL-caliber backup goalie on the free-agent market.