Montreal Canadiens: Sam Montembeault Wants Extension, But At What Price?

Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault was supposed to be a short term filler when he arrived in Montreal. He was claimed off waivers at the beginning of the 2021-22 season, shortly after the Canadiens made a run to the Stanley Cup Final.

Carey Price had entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program but we didn’t know at the time that his career was basically over. We thought Jake Allen would carry the mail for a month or so and Montembeault would play a few games before Price returned and Montembeault was deemed redundant and placed back on waivers.

With Price’s career all but officially over, Montembeault has already signed one contract extension with the Canadiens. It sounds like he could be on the verge of signing another one very soon.

Following his initial campaign in Montreal, where Montembeault put up a 3.77 GAA and a .891 SV%, he inked a two-year contract with a cap hit of $1 million. He just completed the first year of that deal and put up better numbers with a 3.42 GAA and a .901 SV%. Those numbers are not elite by any stretch, but he has been behind one of the more disorganized defensive teams and the most injury riddled as well.

The 26 year old did have plenty of nights where he looked fantastic, but would still allow three goals on 34 shots, which doesn’t end up with terrific numbers. He certainly played better than the numbers suggest and it sounds like the player and the team are willing to try and negotiate a new contract soon, even though he has one more year remaining on his current deal.

It sure sounds like the Becancour, Quebec native enjoys playing close to home and would like to stick around as long as possible. Based on his numbers, and the public pronouncement that he wants to stay, he doesn’t have a ton of leverage in contract talks. So, what would it take to sign him?

Montembeault did show at the recent World Championships that he can perform well when his team’s defense is as good as the opponent’s. He played seven games and helped Canada win a gold medal by posting a 1.42 GAA and a .939 SV%.

Of course, that includes a win over Germany in the gold medal game and a semifinal victory over Latvia. They weren’t exactly facing Auston Matthews, Matthew Tkachuk and Jack Eichel in an Olympic game against the United States.

Still, Montembeault has shown just enough that the team should consider an extension with a modest raise. But what exactly would it cost for a goalie who looks really good some nights but has bad numbers because he plays on a bad team?

Well, just ask the Ottawa Senators. Anton Forsberg didn’t have much of a track record heading into the 2021-22 season and he put up a 2.82 GAA and a .917 SV%. Not great numbers, but better than Montembeault’s while also playing on a cellar dweller. He signed a three-year contract with a $2.75 million cap hit at the age of 29.

Karel Vejmelka of the Arizona Coyotes came out of nowhere to become their starter in 2021-22. He played 52 games for a league doormat, posting a 3.68 GAA and a .898 SV%. Late in that season he signed a three-year contract extension with a cap hit of $2.725 million.

That should pretty much set the bar for a Montembeault contract. It seems a bit high at first glance, but $2.75 million is pretty much as low as it gets for an NHL regular in goal. If the Canadiens want to keep Montembeault around, they would be fortunate to get him to sign a two-year contract at $2.5 million per season.

I guess the only question is if he is worth that much. The team already has Jake Allen signed for two more years at a cap hit of $3.85 million and Cayden Primeau is waiver-eligible next season which means he could be claimed by another team for nothing if he doesn’t make the NHL lineup.

It might make more sense for the Canadiens to wait until the season begins to see if Montembeault can improve his play from last season. If so, sign him around Christmas to an extension then. If he isn’t any better, it may be time to let him walk and look for an upgrade next offseason.

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