Canadiens Analysis
Good News On The Samuel Montembeault Injury Front
Montreal Canadiens netminder Samuel Montembeault has enjoyed quite a career.
Not only did he go from waivers to a starter in his home province, he also ended up representing Team Canada at the World Championship, resulting in a gold medal, as well as MVP honours.
The oft-maligned netminder finished the 2024-25 season as one of the most dominant goalies (all situations), and had started the playoffs on the right foot, but an injury in Game 4 put an early end to his springtime hockey.
Top goalies over their last 20 games https://t.co/RtBkDPbkvW pic.twitter.com/l97sN9mMBP
— MoneyPuck.com (@MoneyPuckdotcom) March 18, 2025
Backup Jakub Dobes did a very respectable job replacing Montembeault, but statistically speaking, the Canadiens lost one of their greatest assets once their starter went down, and that was a bridge too far for a young team that was facing the top club in the Eastern Conference.
Fortunately, there was some good news as to his future.
The injury is relatively minor, and recovery typically takes anywhere from a few weeks to a few months.
“I suffered a double groin tear,” explained Montembeault. “It was the 10th shot of the game, via (Ryan) Leonard. It was a tear in the middle of the muscle, which is better than if it was where the muscle attaches, but, yeah, I tried to stay in the game, but I couldn’t move.”
This bodes well for the Canadiens, as they’ll want to count on a healthy Montembeault to improve upon their encouraging results from 2024-25. At some point, prospect Jacob Fowler will take over, but he’s currently busy serving as the Laval Rocket’s starter. Dobes has not said his final word in Montreal either, but he and Fowler represent the future, whereas Montembeault represents the present.
The 28-year-old still has two years left on his three-year contract extension that carries an annual average value (AAV) of $3.15 million, a considerable bargain when evaluating his impact on the lineup.
Thanks for the update, Marc. 😁👍
Of course!
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Any enlightenments with whatever you guys were doing in the background?
Habs suddenly have a wealth in net, though i expect Primeau will be either traded or allowed to walk. There just isn’t room for him in Montréal, and if Fowler is to get his reps in for Laval, it seems likely Primeau will be the odd man out. Perhaps Hughes can sign and trade him, though in a package with other assets to sweeten a deal. We will pick 16th and 17th in the June draft, and have some solid assets in Laval and elsewhere. That should allow Hughes the leeway he needs to acquire a 2C, which should be his top priority this summer. Newhook and Dach are not good centers, and there doesn’t look to be a 2C anywhere in the system anytime soon (Beck, Kapanen and Hage could get to that level perhaps, but not right away).
The other serious issue is what to do with Laine. The fans, city and entire organization went out of their way to welcome and accommodate Laine. He repaid that with indifferent play and a decided lack of effort. He needs to think long and hard about his NHL future this summer. I doubt he will have much of an NHL future unless he changes his ways and commits to becoming a player who gives their all every game. Talent can only take you so far without heart, and grit.