Andrew Hammond’s story is one we can all appreciate. When the Montreal Canadiens acquired his services in a trade with the Minnesota Wild for Brandon Baddock, it was clearly a move needed to backup Samuel Montembeault and give Cayden Primeau some much needed AHL starts while Jake Allen nursed an injury.
The “Hamburgler” hadn’t appeared in an NHL game since the 2017-18 season, making a lone start for the Colorado Avalanche. Since then, he has bounced around the AHL playing for the San Antonio Rampage, the Iowa Wild and the Rochester Americans. After sitting out the 2020-21 season, Hammond came back with the Iowa Wild for this season.
Hammond has played 4 games for the Canadiens this season, starting 3 of them. He remains undefeated this season and holds a 2.40 GAA along with a .920 save percentage.
Unfortunately, there’s a chance this might be it for Hammond.
The Surrey, BC native went down with a lower body injury during the Canadiens’ 5-4 overtime win against the Calgary Flames. There is no timetable for his return and according to many including Renaud Lavoie from TVA Sports, he has been seen limping and his injury might be more serious than first anticipated.
Et à écouter parler Lavoie, on peut se demander si Andrew Hammond (qui est mal en point) n'a pas joué son dernier match à Montréal → https://t.co/Tz5V5dez8H
— DansLesCoulisses (@DLCoulisses) March 8, 2022
That being said, the goaltending situation for the Canadiens is up in the air. Jake Allen is scheduled to return in one to two weeks while Samuel Montembeault is going to need surgery for his injured wrist. There is still a chance that Carey Price returns this season but the chances are slim.
Once Allen does return to the team, Kent Hughes will have some major decisions to make as there is a plethora of scenarios that can happen. Here are some of them.
1 – Allen returns and Montembeault remains his backup, sending Hammond and Primeau to the AHL.
2 – Allen returns and Montembeault gets surgery which effectively puts him on the shelf for the rest of the season. Primeau remains as the backup until Hammond is fully healthy. Primeau then gets sent to Laval.
3 – Allen is traded at the deadline. Montembeault remains the starter and Primeau remains as the backup until Hammond is fully healthy. Primeau then gets sent to Laval.
4 – Allen is traded at the deadline. Montembeault remains the starter until Hammond is healthy. Once Hammond returns, Montembeault leaves for surgery thus having Hammond and Primeau as your goalie tandem.
5 – Carey Price surprisingly returns and the team rides Price and Allen until the end of the year. Montembeault gets surgery while Primeau and Hammond are sent to Laval.
As you can see, there are a lot of possibilities and all of them will be examined thoroughly by front office.
The NHL Trade Deadline is March 21st.