The Montreal Canadiens’ goaltending situation is an absolute tire fire. Carey Price still hasn’t played a game since last year’s Stanley Cup Finals and his rehabilitation is more a mystery than that of the pyramids. Jake Allen will be out until early to mid-March which leaves Samuel Montembeault and newly acquired Andrew Hammond to defend the net in Montreal.
The case against Samuel Montembeault is a particular one and all depends on if Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes have him penciled in their future roster. As far as we know, Carey Price might be in the same boat as Shea Weber and never play again. Or if he does, he’ll still need a backup which begs the question on whether or not the Canadiens will keep Jake Allen. With another year left on his contract with a $2.875 million cap hit, Allen could be a hot commodity at the trade deadline, given of course that he is healthy.
From the outside looking in, anyone who doesn’t follow the Canadiens on a near daily basis would think that Montembeault is a flop. At the time of writing this he has a record of 3-10-4 with a 3.81 GAA and a .895 save percentage.
Yikes.
That being said however, if you do follow the Canadiens on a near daily basis, you would understand that Montembeault’s statistics do not actually reflect reality. This is a goaltender who was relegated to third string duties in Florida, picked up on waivers by the Canadiens to serve as a backup for Jake Allen, only to ultimately get the starting job by default. He might have given up 70 goals in 24 games, but that’s because he has faced a total of 668 shots with the Canadiens this season. That’s an average of 28 shots per game which is about on par with league average.
So you’re saying he’s just below average then? Not necessarily.
Out of those 24 games Montembeault started 17 of them. If we were to remove those 7 games in which he came in relief, the average shots he faces now amounts to 39, which is nearing bombardment city.
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It’s no secret either that the defensive squad was abysmal at the start of the season. Former coach Dominique Ducharme and defensive coach Luke Richardson both struggled in finding the right system and line combination that would lead to more protection towards the goalie. Player frustration and lack of mobility at the back end ultimately led to the opposition crashing the net and getting the majority of their shots directly in the slot leaving goaltenders such as Montembeault as well as Cayden Primeau completely vulnerable. Even Carey Price in his prime wouldn’t have necessarily done better.
Furthermore, the addition of Andrew Hammond via trade with the Minnesota Wild, came at a time to deal with two things: Sending Primeau to Laval so he can get more quality starts, as well as give Montembeault a break since he has been playing injured for a while now. Montembeault refuses to sit out despite needing wrist surgery. This is a guy not only fighting for an NHL job but wants to prove to his new organization that he belongs in the show and is willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of his teammates, injuries be damned. Something many players are unwilling to do.
Montembeault will become an RFA at the end of the year. Again, his status with the team might depend on what the upper brass want to do with their goaltending situation. Do you trade Jake Allen in order to make sure there is a spot for Montembeault? Will Carey Price ever return? Will you be forced to bring up Cayden Primeau next season?
Montembeault can become a reliable backup with the right roster in front of him. Unless, Price doesn’t return and Hughes ends up trading Allen anyway and we ride a tandem of Montembeault and either Primeau or a veteran goaltender like Hammond on a 50-50 split?
What do you think we should do with Samuel Montembeault? Comment Below!