Casey DeSmith’s arrival: I find it hard to believe in a ménage à trois in front of the net

Yesterday, Kent Hughes took the field hockey world by surprise by getting his hands on Jeff Petry.

Of course, the transaction is broader than that. As part of a three-team deal involving Erik Karlsson, the Habs acquired four players.

As you know, the CH let go Rem Pitlick (Pittsburgh) and Mike Hoffman (San Jose) in return for Petry, Casey DeSmith, Nathan Légaré and an attractive second-round pick in 2025.

Note that Jeff Petry comes to town at only 75% of his salary.

In concrete terms, for the 2023-2024 Canadiens, don’t expect Légaré to play a big role with the club. A good camp and a good start to the season in Laval could change all that, of course.

The second pick in 2025, until proven otherwise, will not be in uniform for the CH in 2023-2024. Obviously, the CH could move the pick between now and then, but for now, that’s not the case.

What this means is that, right now, only Petry and DeSmith are being added to the Habs’ active roster for next season. In the short term, that’s what it means.

Of course, I say this knowing full well that it’s worth what it’s worth, since the CH is working for the long term. At the moment, the club isn’t trading for the moment.

Quite the contrary, in fact.

In fact, since Jeff Petry could very well be on his way to another team by the end of the off-season, the chances that DeSmith will be the only player in the deal to start the season in Montreal are (relatively) good.

Jeff Petry has not commented on his return to the city. His wife, a model ambassador for a strong, bilingual Montreal, posted photos on Instagram yesterday morning (a little before the deal) about “the surprise of a lifetime” – a family trip to New York.

We don’t all have the same definition of the surprise of a lifetime, do we? After all, when I think of “surprise” and “Petry”, it’s not the family trip to New York that comes to mind.

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Anyway. All this to say that if Petry were to leave, Casey DeSmith could be the only player in the deal who would be in Montreal for next season – or early season, at least.

And there are questions about his role.

Logically, the Habs acquired DeSmith, 31, to play. I don’t see a world in which DeSmith, who will be a free agent at the end of the 2023-2024 season, is in town to make the ballot, for example.

Unless he’s traded too?

That means the Habs currently have four goalies who will theoretically have to start the season in Montreal: Jake Allen, Casey DeSmith, Samuel Montembeault and Cayden Primeau.

Let’s agree on one thing: Primeau is going to the ballot. Barring a surprise (if there’s one club that’s not immune to injury, it’s the Montreal Canadiens), he’s #4 in the pecking order.

But does that mean the CH will go for a ménage à trois in front of the net? Not necessarily, no.

In fact, I find it hard to believe that the Habs are going to go with a three-man front line and have, say, only 13 forwards in town to start the season.

If that’s the case, it means that the Habs will arrange for one of the three goalies (Montembeault, DeSmith and Allen) to be out of the 23-man roster when camp is over. But which one?

Is there a world in which Jake Allen is traded? Maybe, but I don’t know how much I believe it. It’s late in the summer to be trading such a contract in front of the net in my eyes.

Even if we know it’s happening, a big trade in August. #ErikKarlsson

Is there a world where Jake Allen, who was injured at the end of the season, goes on the injured list at the start of the campaign? If the Maple Leafs did it with Matt Murray, anything’s possible, right?

If not, it has to be through a transaction. Could Samuel Montembeault, who is also at the end of his contract, be the element sacrificed by the Habs before the start of the season?

I can’t say I believe it, but given the lack of data, it’s fair to wonder.

Now that the 2023-2024 contracts have been signed, and the next issue on the GM’s table is Montembeault’s contract (UFA in 2024), is there any world in which negotiations aren’t going as well as expected?

Is there a world in which Samuel Montembeault is too greedy for the Canadiens?

Is there a world in which the Habs are putting pressure on Montembeault via another NHL-calibre goaltender? Is there a world in which Montembeault is being shopped by the Flanelle?

In an ideal world, it wouldn’t be. But in the NHL, negotiations have gone sour before. And while we don’t know why DeSmith is in town, we do have some questions.

In gusts

– Um…

– He’ll be fine in Laval in his house.

– Two goals yesterday. I’m starting to think the guy’s too good.

– Capitals want to help Alex Ovechkin score more than 894 goals. [BPM Sports]

– Well done.