Sam Montembeault is becoming one of the more intriguing names to watch as the goalie market starts to shift.
On the surface, Montreal carrying three legitimate goalies is a setup that can only last so long. It may be cheap enough to ride for a while, but it isn’t built for the long term. Fowler is coming up, Dobes is entrenched, and Montembeault is the one who looks most likely to get squeezed out if nothing changes.
That doesn’t mean the Canadiens are desperate to move him. The real question is what they’d want in return, and that’s where the conversation gets interesting. Kent Hughes has never exactly been a predictable trade executive.
A lot of what happens next may depend on Connor Hellebuyck. If Winnipeg trades him, there’s a real chance a goalie comes back in the deal, and that would set off a chain reaction across the market.
Suddenly, Montembeault could become much more available to other teams. Clubs that miss out on Hellebuyck could quickly turn to Montreal’s goalie as their next option.
New Jersey, with its own unusual goaltending situation, is one team that fits as a possible landing spot. Once the Hellebuyck domino falls, the rest of the goalie market could move fast.
That’s also where Hughes’ approach matters. He isn’t the kind of general manager who would just move Montembeault for a mid-round pick and move on.
He tends to look for value in places other teams overlook. A player with a bad contract.
A guy who needs a change of scenery. Someone who underperformed elsewhere but still has real talent.
That’s been his style since taking over in Montreal.
So if Montembeault does get dealt, don’t expect a clean goalie-for-pick transaction. Hughes is more likely to chase a player who looks like a reclamation project on paper but makes sense for Montreal’s timeline and cap situation. It’s the kind of move that can look odd at first and a lot smarter later.
For Canadiens fans, the first thing to monitor is Hellebuyck. His situation could set everything else in motion.
And if that happens, Montembeault may become far more available than he is right now. When he does, don’t assume Montreal’s asking price will be obvious.
Hughes has built a habit of finding value where other GMs aren’t even looking.
In Other News...
Canadiens Reopen Practice But Dach Questions Are Only Growing
After a one-day closed-door session, the Canadiens were back in front of the public on the ice at the CN Sports Complex in Brossard, and the usual practice rhythm returned with it. Fans in attendance got a look at the group as it skated, with Kirby Dach among the players spotted during the open session, a small but notable sight for anyone following the clubs day-to-day health and lineup picture.
The brief shutdown has only added to the curiosity around why the team chose to shut things down in the first place. Montreal has not offered an official explanation for the one-day closed-door practice, leaving the move open to interpretation and keeping attention fixed on the details that matter most to a team that is already being watched closely every time it hits the ice. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens Suddenly Have More Urgency To Get Arber Xhekaj Signed
Kaiden Guhles recent absence from practice has given the Canadiens another reason to be uneasy as training camp approaches, especially after he was spotted in a tracksuit and then missed the last two sessions in Brossard. Any uncertainty around a young defenseman who has already become a key part of the blue line tends to ripple quickly through the rest of the roster picture, and in Montreal it has only sharpened the focus on the teams defensive depth.
It also adds a little more urgency to Kent Hughes work with Arber Xhekaj, who remains unsigned even while continuing to train with the club. The Canadiens have been carrying on as if the situation will sort itself out, but if Guhle is slowed early in the season, the need for reliable bodies on defense becomes harder to ignore and makes Xhekajs unresolved contract situation loom a lot larger. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens Face A Pricey Kirill Marchenko Debate As Pressure Builds
The Canadiens are in the middle of another one of those summer conversations that says as much about where the organization is headed as it does about the player at the center of it. Kirill Marchenko has been floated as a possible fit in Montreal, a reminder that a winger entering the final year of his contract can quickly become a conversation piece when a team is looking to keep pushing its rebuild forward.
For now, the whole thing remains firmly hypothetical, with no confirmation of interest from either side. Still, the idea has gained enough traction because the fit is obvious enough to debate and the price would be significant enough to make Montreal think twice, especially with pressure building around how aggressively the club should chase help versus protect its long-term core. [Read more 🡒]