Who should the Montreal Canadiens third goaltender be?

The Montreal Canadiens clearly have a number-one and two goaltender in Carey Price and Jake Allen, respectively, but a reliable third will be key as well.

Marc Bergevin gave Carey Price what he’s needed for years: a reliable backup. Many will argue that the highest-paid player on the Montreal Canadiens and the acclaimed “best goaltender in the world” doesn’t need a reliable backup, but there are many layers to that conversation. This past Return to Play proved that ensuring Price is healthy and rested can do wonders. And that leads to the Jake Allen trade.

Trials with Antti Niemi, Charlie Lindgren and Keith Kinkaid had polarizing effects on the Habs, though all of them ended with a stretch of the season where Price would be run every single game. Generally, that’s not a bad thing as he gives the team the best opportunity to win. The issues occur when fatigue sits in, and the Montreal Canadiens of the past were far from being the ’95 Devils as far as defensive structure went.

Allen provides stability in net, not only giving Claude Julien the option to play him on back-to-backs but the occasional mid-week game. That’s going to be even more important given the rapid and compressed look of what we expect the 2020/21 NHL season to look like.

After the NHL and NHLPA board meetings took place, a possible schedule format was proposed that would see several mini-series’ and/or stretches of three games in four nights appearing throughout the campaign. If that’s the case, Price and Allen will have their work cut out for them. However, it’s also in the realm of possibility where the league allows teams to carry three goaltenders. The workload is one thing, but injuries can still occur, and having a third netminder will ease some stress there.

The question is: who should the Montreal Canadiens bring as their third goaltender?

Aside from Price and Allen, the Habs have four goalies under contract for next season (via Capfriendly):

• Charlie Lindgren – $750,000
• Cayden Primeau – $880,833
• Michael McNiven – $700,000
• Vasili Demchenko – $792,500

2017 seventh-round pick Primeau has the longest term of the four with another year on his deal after this one.

More from Editorials

• Montreal Canadiens: Senators Rebuild At Crisis Point As Kent Hughes Moves Forward
• Montreal Canadiens: Jonathan Drouin Continues Charity Work In Montreal After Leaving Habs
• Montreal Canadiens: Laval Rocket Lineup Going To Be Must Watch
• Montreal Canadiens: Jesse Ylönen Contract Extension Analysis
• Montreal Canadiens: Top 31 Prospects – #31 Quentin Miller

What happens with the AHL is going to play a huge role in this. The minors are targeting a February 5th start date, and if that’s the case, the Laval Rocket would surely want Primeau down there as their number one. Demchenko could’ve been another option to take the crease in the AHL running a tandem with Primeau.

The Russian free agent signed with the Montreal Canadiens in April and hasn’t played any games this season. According to Andrew Zadarnowski, his KHL rights were traded from Metallurg Magnitogorsk, which he played 14 games for posting a .906 save percentage, to Avangard Omsk. That was back in September, and we haven’t seen anything from him on-ice. This may indicate his desire to play overseas this season in either the NHL or AHL.

Michael McNiven has only seen the Habs’ AHL affiliate. He was called up at times to back up in the NHL but hasn’t played a game. The Montreal Canadiens handed him what looks to be a final prove-it deal in September, also making him an option in Laval.

And then there is Charlie Lindgren, who many initially believed would be the next “One” as Price’s backup. Lindgren has spent most of his days in the AHL, though he has had long stretches with the Habs. In particular, the 2017-18 season when he and Niemi took over the net for an injured Price. Lindgren played in 14 games that year, posting a .908 save percentage.

When Kinkaid wasn’t the answer this season, Lindgren found his way up to the Montreal Canadiens again, playing in 6 games. However, they weren’t as pretty as the run two years ago.

Let’s be clear, the third goaltender isn’t going to play much, if not at all, but they still need to be able to perform if called upon. That could make Lindgren the “comfortable” choice.

Both Lindgren and McNiven were also part of the Canadiens’ Phase 4 Return to Play roster, but only the former has NHL experience. Again, management sees Primeau as a key piece of the future, and it wouldn’t do anything for his development to spend the majority of the season watching from the press box.

Charlie Lindgren makes the most sense, and if he can perform better in front of a better defence corps than he’s gotten before, he can be a safe stopgap in case of injury.