Montreal Canadiens: Three Habs Who Will Play In Next Best On Best Tournament

Sam Montembeault

While Team Canada will be stacked at forward and on defense as well, there options in goal are not as deep as they once were.

As we mentioned earlier, having Carey Price in goal for Canada pretty much guaranteed them a gold medal at the most recent World Cup of Hockey as well as the latest Olympics. Even before him there was also a fantastic option like Roberto Luongo, Martin Brodeur or Patrick Roy.

Recently, we have not seen many elite goaltenders in Canada. Adin Hill did win a Stanley Cup last year and Darcy Kuemper and Jordan Binnington have their name on the Stanley Cup as well. But they aren't dominant netminders who are Vezina Trophy candidates every year.

Montembeault has put up respectable numbers on a rebuilding team over the past two seasons. He was also excellent for Canada at the most recent World Championships, which isn't the same as a best on best tournament, but it is a reasonable facsimile. His 1.42 GAA and .939 SV% at the World Championships show he wasn't just good wearing a Team Canada jersey but he was excellent.

It also shows that when he is not playing behind a rebuilding team and an extremely young defense he can put up great numbers. Montembeault has been among the best in the league in the advanced stat goals saved above expected which essentially calculates save percentage but also includes a level of difficulty factor into each save. This is an attempt to level the playing field and measuring goaltenders by who stops the shots they should stop most often.

On a team like Canada, Montembeault would not be facing a lot of high danger scoring chances like he does some nights with the Canadiens. He has shown, and the stats agree, that if he plays on a good team he would put up great results. That should put him in line to make Team Canada in 2025.