One of the worst kept secrets of the Montreal Canadiens season is that Samuel Montembeault was playing injured. Since January, everyone had doubts that the Becancour native had issues with his wrist. All that was finally confirmed as Montembeault had surgery to repair tendons in his wrist.
Je ne sais pas si ça a déjà été mentionné ici mais Samuel Montembeault a finalement été opéré pour la blessure qu’il traînait depuis un petit moment déjà! #CH #Habs #Canadiens
— Marc-Olivier Beaudoin (@MOBeaudoin1) May 8, 2022
Crédit: Manon Royer via Facebook pic.twitter.com/rXQZBvhZ1h
Montembeault’s surgery will put him on the shelf for up to 8 weeks. He should be fully rehabilitated and ready to go for training camp in September.
The 25 year old will become a restricted free agent this summer. With the uncertainty regarding Carey Price’s future, it won’t come as a surprise to see him serve as Jake Allen’s backup next season.
In 38 games with the Canadiens this past season, Montembeault finished with an 8-18-6 record, one of those wins being a shutout, tagged along with a 3.77 goals against average and an .891 save percentage. On paper these aren’t eye popping numbers by all means, but having received 1124 shots, which comes to an average of 35 if you take into account his 32 starts, certainly changes the grade of his report card.
Montembeault was also honored with being the French voice at the end of the final game of the season. The goaltender grabbed the microphone to thank the fans for their support throughout the season. Brendan Gallagher gave the speech in English.
Montembault was claimed off waivers from the Florida Panthers on October 2nd. He was the Panthers’ 3rd round pick of the 2015 NHL draft. That year the Canadiens drafted now former Panthers Noah Juulsen in the first round.
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