Montreal Canadiens: Most Likely Options To Solve Goaltending Logjam

The Montreal Canadiens are a team that is not at all ready to compete for a Stanley Cup, and probably won’t be hanging around the playoff picture into the new year either.

However, they also have a lot of NHL ready options available at all positions. They traded for Jeff Petry earlier this offseason, and then moved him to the Detroit Red Wings for Gustav Lindstrom and a fourth round pick.

Lindstrom played at the NHL level last season, but will not be handed a role with the Canadiens. He will battle with David Savard, Justin Barron, Johnanthan Kovacevic and Chris Wideman for an NHL roster spot, and then ice time if he even makes the 23-man Canadiens roster on opening night.

Up front, things got cleared up with the trade of Mike Hoffman and Rem Pitlick, but it will still be difficult for a prospect to steal a role on the team as they have 14 forwards returning who all played regularly in the NHL last season. Essentially, their roster spots are already locked up at forward, and they have a couple extra options on the blue line.

In goal, the Canadiens have too many options as well. Sam Montembeault and Jake Allen were the tandem last season and Montembeault heads into the 2023-24 season on the final year of his contract while Allen has two years remaining.

The Habs also acquired Casey DeSmith from the Pittsburgh Penguins, giving them three regular NHL goaltenders from last season. That is already too many, but they also have Cayden Primeau on the roster and he needs to pass through waivers for the first time before he can be sent down to the Laval Rocket.

Primeau has shown some promise at the college and AHL level, but he has a 4.11 GAA and a .871 SV% in 21 NHL games so far in his career. It seems unlikely he will get claimed off waivers so he is likely headed back to Laval.

But how will the Canadiens clear up the rest of their goaltending logjam? They pretty much have to trade one of them, but who will it be?

Trade Jake Allen

Jake Allen has been a serviceable backup since arriving in Montreal three years ago. He has not put up eye-popping numbers by any stretch, but he is a veteran who can mentor a young goaltender and is a great leader to have on a rebuilding team.

He played 42 games for the Canadiens last season and had a 3.55 GAA and a .891 SV%. He is also about to start a new two-year contract with a cap hit of $3.85 million. The 33 year old is a great teammate, a good leader and a respected voice to have in the room, but his numbers just don’t justify that cap hit.

It is impossible to find a team out there that would be willing to give up much of anything to try and acquire Allen right now. Maybe if he had one year left on his contract, or if the cap hit was a little lower, or if the team was going to retain a large percentage of it. But that seems unlikely as they already retained Joel Edmundson’s contract for this season and Jeff Petry’s for the next two  years. I can’t seem them retaining another contract over multiple years.

For those reasons, I really think Allen is the least likely of the three to be traded. While his leadership and experience would be valued on any team, the Canadiens could use it as well, and his contract is just too big for a backup to have any trade value.

Trade Sam Montembeault

Montembeault has shown some flashes of brilliance in his two season stint with the Canadiens. He was claimed off waivers ahead of the 2021-22 season, and expected to be a short term filler until Carey Price returned.

Well, it is two years later and Montembeault appears to be the number one goalie in Montreal while Price has surely played his last game with the Canadiens. Plans change, and Montembeault played well enough in his initial season in Montreal to earn a contract extension through this season.

The 26 year old will earn just $1 million this season before possibly becoming an unrestricted free agent. He posted a 3.42 GAA and a .901 SV% in 40 games with the Canadiens last season, which was an improvement on the 3.77 GAA and .891 SV% from the previous season.

While the numbers are not great, he has had a few stints where he looked like a legitimate number one goaltender at the NHL level. He has played just over 100 games in the NHL and is only 26 which is not over the hill for a goaltender, so the Canadiens would be wise to keep him and see if he can improve on his performance in the upcoming season.

Of course, another team may get desperate if there is an injury and see Montembeault’s potential and low salary and make the Canadiens an offer. If that happens, and the Habs can get even a third round pick for him, they would be wise to pull the trigger.