Montreal Canadiens: Contending Team Closely Watching Habs Goalie Situation

The Montreal Canadiens are one of the few teams in the National Hockey League that are currently carrying three goaltenders on their roster.

Most teams have just two netminders on the team as there literally are not enough nets to go around if you have more. The Canadiens have chosen to begin the season with the awkward roster and are still sitting on three goalies nearly a month into the season.

The reason is Cayden Primeau is not eligible to be sent down without passing through waivers. The team believes he would be claimed and do not want to lose him for nothing. They have also not found a trade partner at this time and seem to be waiting for a team to have an injury so they can dangle their extra goalie out there for a deal.

That situation may be coming to pass here soon. The Carolina Hurricanes have lost Frederik Andersen for the foreseeable future and it sounds like it could be a long term absence. The team brought in veteran Jaroslav Halak on a PTO this week to see if he can add some depth to their goaltending position.

If he can’t, it appears the Hurricanes will be looking to deal, and they are keeping a close eye on the Canadiens. This is according to TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun who states the Hurricanes need goaltending depth, were looking for some before Andersen was even hurt and they are not guaranteed to sign Halak who is 38 years old.

LeBrun said on Tuesday’s edition of Insider Trading that Carolina is keeping an eye on the three goalie situation in Montreal. The two teams are unlikely trade partners since their last transaction involved the Jesperi Kotkaniemi offer sheet fiasco.

But desperate times call for desperate measures and the Hurricanes won’t have many other options if Andersen is out long term. They likely wouldn’t be interested in Jake Allen due to his contract, or Primeau since he really isn’t proven at the NHL level.

But, could the Hurricanes make an offer for Sam Montembeault to give them some NHL insurance with Antti Raanta? It would make sense as he has a low cap hit of just $1 million, would be relatively cheap to acquire and could provide decent goaltending behind a terrific defense in Carolina.

Something has to give in Montreal with their three goalie situation and someone needs to play goal in Carolina. A Montembeault trade to the Hurricanes would make solve a couple of problems on both sides, but the Habs can’t expect much more than a mid round pick in return.

If they aren’t planning on re-signing him after this season, trading him now and giving Primeau more runway to work with at the NHL level this season would be a great choice.

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