Montreal Canadiens sign goaltender to three-year extension

The Montreal Canadiens have signed goaltender Samuel Montembeault to a three-year extension worth $3.15 million per year.

The 27-year-old has posted a 5-3-1 record with a .910 save percentage this season. He’s in his third year with the Canadiens, where he has quickly proven himself to be a solid goaltender capable of stealing wins.

Originally drafted 77th overall by the Florida Panthers in 2015, Montembeault played his first 25 NHL games with the club before getting claimed on waivers early in the 2021-22 season. Montembeault has a career NHL record of 38-48-13 with one shutout in 113 games over parts of five years.

Despite having some so-so surface numbers, Montembeault has been one of the team’s bright spots over the past few years. According to Evolving-Hockey, Montembeault had a wins-above replacement of 1.6 last year, good for 25th out of 99 goaltenders. This year, his goals saved above expected is 2.7 according to MoneyPuck, which places him 18th out of 38 goalies with at least 10 games played.

Internationally, Montembeault helped Canada win the 2023 World Championship with a 6-1-0 record, one shutout and a .939 save percentage. He was named as one of Canada’s top three players for his efforts.

Montembeault is part of a three-headed goalie monster in Montreal. Veteran Jake Allen has another year left on his contract at $3.85 million, while Cayden Primeau has a $890,000 cap hit until 2025. All three goalies would require waivers to go to the AHL, so the Canadiens have seemingly held on to all three with the potential to trade one at some point this year. Daily Faceoff insider Frank Seravalli listed Allen and Primeau as early season trade targets in his first board of the 2023-24 NHL campaign.

CapFriendly projects the Canadiens to have $8.093 million in cap space next year, with RFAs jesse Ylonen, Arber Xhekaj, Justin Barron, Mattias Norlinder and Gustav Lindstrom to sign. Tanner Pearson, Sean Monahan and Chris Wideman are set to become UFAs.