“Joe Sakic once said that he spent the first few years of his career proving he belonged in the NHL. And he spent the rest wanting to prove he could continue in the NHL.”
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Photo credit: AFP archive photo
Samuel Montembeault was still all smiles when he appeared in the media one day after signing his three-year contract, which will earn him $3.15 million per season starting next fall.
Mentioning the former captain of the Nordiques and the Avalanche is no trivial matter. After all, being waived is virtually the lowest status a NHL player can achieve. When the Canadian was claimed, coming from Florida, on October 2, 2021, the Bécancour even had precisely everything to prove.
“I’ve come a long way. I have a good relationship with Éric (Raymond, goaltending coach). We both work very well together. He helped me improve a lot.”
Progression and consistency
The progression is such that Montembeault, despite guarding the net behind a young and fragile team, leads the league in 5-on-5 efficiency (0.948). No one would have bet on this when the lean athlete came to Montreal due to Carey Price’s health issues.
That season, he was the busiest masked man of the Habs, with 38 games in front of the net. He finished the campaign with a resounding goals against average of 3.77 and an efficiency rate of 0.891. In his defense, due to numerous injuries, he practically had an AHL team in front of him.
“Since Sam arrived here, we’ve seen his game progress. We also see a certain consistency. Now it’s up to him to keep it up,” said Kent Hughes.
The man for the job?
The deal signed on Friday will be valid until the end of the 2026-2027 season. At this point, it can be presumed that the team’s reconstruction will be coming to an end. Montembeault will then be 30 years old. Will he be the number one goaltender when the team matures?
“If Sam can continue on the same line, we would be crazy not to want to keep him. But that still needs to be determined,” argued Hughes, noting in passing that the progression rate of his other young players is also difficult to predict.
Montembeault is having a very good season. However, it remains to be seen how he will fare when it comes time to take on the workload that comes with being the top spot. More contested games, sequences of two games in 24 hours, for example.
The trio ends
We may get an answer to this question in the coming weeks. If the trio in front of the Canadian’s goal finally ends.
“Did we start the season saying we would have a rotation of three goalkeepers throughout the season? No. But the risk of losing Sam at the end of the season did not give us a choice, since our AHL goalkeepers must play in the AHL.
This issue now resolved, the rest should unfold rapidly. Furthermore, Hughes said that the pressure was now on him to bring this situation to a conclusion.