Canadiens Add Goalie Depth, Acquire Andrew ‘The Hamburglar’ Hammond

The Montreal Canadiens began to build their goaltending depth Saturday by acquiring goalie Andrew Hammond from the Minnesota Wild for forward Brandon Baddock.

To make room for Hammond, the Canadiens sent down the struggling Cayden Primeau to the Laval Rocket.

Montreal Canadiens fans may remember Andrew Hammond – or as he became known is his dream rookie season in 2014-15, ‘The Hamburglar – who got his first career win against the Habs and took the Ottawa Senators on an improbable late-season run to the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs before falling to the Habs in six games in the first round.

Since then, Hammond’s career has been a roller coaster between the NHL and AHL. He has not played an NHL game since 2017-18 when he suited up for the Colorado Avalanche. Before that, the Hammond was up and down between the Ottawa Senators and the Binghamton Senators (AHL).

Hammond was 6-2-3 record with a 2.44 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage for the Iowa Wild this season.

The 34-year-old native of Surrey, B.C., has played 56 career NHL games with the Senators and Colorado Avalanche. He’s 27-15-6 record with a 2.31 goals-against average, a .923 save percentage, and four shutouts in the NHL.

Baddock recorded five goals and seven assists for 12 points in 58 games with the Laval Rocket over the past two seasons.

With Montreal Canadiens starter Carey Price out indefinitely, backup Jake Allen at least another six weeks, and even fifth-string goalie Michael McNiven on injured reserve, the Montreal Canadiens were lacking in goaltending depth.

Sam Montemneault and Cayden Primeau have shared the bulk of the duties between the pipes for the majority of the last month. As Montembeault did on Saturday, more often than not Monetembeault has given the Montreal Canadiens a chance to at least stay in the game but he’s struggled statistically going 2-9-4 with a 3.84 GAA and .897 save percentage. Primeau has been underwhelming at best going 1-7-1 with a 4.88 goals-against average and .866 save percentage.