The Montreal Canadiens ended their road trip on a high note, beating the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-2 on Wednesday night before heading straight home for the second half of their back-to-back. With six of a possible 10 points, the run outside of the Bell Centre was perhaps better than expected, albeit far from signaling the end of the team’s rebuild.
Speaking of rebuilds, which often involve trades, there were three Edmonton Oilers scouts in the building for that game, which happened to be one of Samuel Montembeault’s best.
He didn’t need to steal this game. The Habs were the better team, holding an expected goals-for advantage at 56.63% on the night, but they left enough work for Montembeault to show what he can do. He was solid when called upon, including a key penalty kill in the third period to give his team the chance they needed to win the game late.
With the Habs struggling at times to break out of their zone, he even showed some shades of Carey Price in being able to help generate opportunities with his puck handling.
The Oilers are a painfully obvious trading partner for a Habs team carrying three goaltenders, and Montembeault is reportedly the one they’ve been the most interested in. I find it very hard to believe it is mere happenstance that the Oilers sent three scouts to a game where he starts, and there is probably something about to be cooked up, if it isn’t already coming to a boil.
Edmonton needs a goaltender. Badly. Montembeault has been the best of the three in Montreal, and as hard as it could be for some to see him go, their best bet is to move the one who gets them the best return. The goaltender-starved Oilers might be willing to cough up a king’s ransom for a reliable netminder who just happens to be able to fit in their salary cap without massive dollars going the other way. The Habs don’t need much on the immediate roster front anyways, and could find themselves with some excellent rebuild fuel in such a deal.
We won’t know until we know, but there is a reasonable possibility that even if that wasn’t Samuel Montembeault’s last game in a Habs sweater, he may have played himself into a new home.
Click the play button below to listen to your full Bottom Six Minutes, also available wherever you get your podcasts. Quick turnaround this time, as we’ll be back after tonight’s game against the Florida Panthers.
