Canadiens: When Will the Habs Solve the Goalie Dilemma

Cayden Primeau has gotten into just one game so far this season, doing so against NHL leading scorer Jack Hughes and the New Jersey Devils. It went about as expected, with Primeau giving up four in a five-to-two loss. That was two weeks ago. He hasn’t played since.

I understand the Canadiens don’t want to lose Primeau. He’s still young enough at 24 to hold out hope for his development a little longer. But I don’t see how he’s going to develop sitting in the press box. At this rate, he’s on pace to make just seven starts this year. That’s not helping anyone.

Meanwhile, the Laval Rocket are struggling, sitting at 31st in the AHL with a 2-7-1 record. And their goaltending is a mess, with both goalies having SV% hovering around .850, which is atrocious. They could use Primeau, or any help for that matter.

But the Canadiens are firm on the belief that Primeau won’t pass through waivers. But they also won’t give him more starts, having just the one so far. They gotta do something, for Primeau’s sake and Laval’s. Maybe the Canadiens need to consider trading Primeau for someone who can help Laval.

Jake Allen has gotten off to a hot start this season, posting a 4.73 GSAx so far through five contests. He’s a veteran goalie who’s in his fourth season with the Canadiens. He’s got experience in the post-season and, at 33 years old, is most likely not considered a big part of the Canadiens future plans.

Allen also has another year on his contract at a pretty reasonable cap hit of $3.85 Million. If a team wanted to trade for a goaltender, I can’t think of a better name than Jake Allen. He won’t cost much in the salary sense, but also in the trade compensation sense. And although it’s early, I can already think of a few teams that need a goalie, looking at you, Edmonton.

Not only is Jake Allen a healthy body to put in net, but he’s a pretty good goalie to boot. I can’t help but wonder if teams have already inquired about Allen, and if they haven’t yet, I bet they will soon. The question is, would the Canadiens part with him?

The Habs clearly value Allen and all he provides, and we know they won’t just give Allen away for very little. But if the compensation is fair, would they pull the trigger? It would certainly solve the goaltending issue, at least from a numbers perspective.

Samuel Montembeault has established himself as someone the Canadiens want to be a part of the organization long term. That’s why there were reported talks of a potential contract extension last off-season despite him being under contract for this year.

Those talks never progressed to the point where an extension was signed, but I’m sure the Canadiens will do their best to re-sign Montembeault at some point. But that’s obviously not a guarantee, and Arpon Basu of the Athletic has speculated as much.

It certainly contextualizes why the Canadiens don’t want to lose Primeau and why they’re in the predicament they are in. So maybe the solution isn’t to trade Montembeault, or any other goalie, but rather extend him. Once they have the assurance that he will be here next year and beyond, they can feel more comfortable taking the risk of waiving Primeau.

But will that happen anytime soon? It’s anyone’s guess. I think this is a frustrating scenario for everyone involved. Nobody wants to have to manage three goalies at a time, not the coaches, not management and certainly not the players. It’s pivotal that the Canadiens figure this out soon because this cannot continue forever, for everyone’s sake.

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