The Montreal Canadiens are carrying three goaltenders on their roster at the moment, which makes for an unusual roster arrangement. Most teams around the league have just two but the Canadiens don’t want to lose anyone on waivers.
That means Sam Montembeault, Jake Allen and Cayden Primeau are sharing time in the crease, though Primeau has just two starts so he is certainly getting the short end of things here.
It would seem the Canadiens are likely looking to move out a goaltender at this time, but rumour has it the team is hoping to extend one of their goaltenders stays in Montreal.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was discussing the Canadiens on his Headlines segment in the second intermission of Hockey Night In Canada last night. He reported that the Habs are looking to extend Montembeault at this time. His exact quote was the team “is taking a real run at extending Montembeault.”
Nikita Zadorov trade request, the Oilers, and a Sam Montembeault extension.
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 12, 2023
📰 Saturday headlines with @FriedgeHNIC pic.twitter.com/oox703Rqb4
This suggests things are pretty close to done or Friedman isn’t using his couple of minutes in the second intermission to bring it up. He is quite careful with his words and isn’t just throwing this out there without having done plenty of homework.
It does raise the question of what Montembeault’s next contract should even look like? As well as who becomes the odd man out if Montembeault does get signed? Those questions will have to be definitely answered at a later date, but Montembeault’s career 0.896 save percentage would suggest he isn’t getting a Jack Campbell contract.
He probably can’t even expect a Jake Allen contract which is a two-year deal with a cap hit of $3.85 million. Maybe he gets two years at $2.75 million but that is purely a guess.
As for the odd man out, it wouldn’t look good for Primeau if Montembeault gets an extension. The one thing Primeau really could have held out hope for is that Montembeault is a pending unrestricted free agent and may have eventually been traded if an extension was not coming. That would have opened a door for Primeau but it sounds like it won’t be happening for the Habs youngster.
We will have to wait and see what comes of this rumour, but when Friedman speaks, you often don’t have to wait long.
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