Samuel Montembeault: Here’s what might help the Habs trade him

Félix Forget
Samuel Montembeault: Here’s what might help the Habs trade him
Credit: YouTube

The summer of 2026 is shaping up to be a busy one in Montreal. After seeing the Habs reach the conference finals, Kent Hughes has his work cut out for him to take his team to the next level… and to clean house.

Because yes, we often talk about who the Habs might add, but there are also those the club might part ways with. Brendan Gallagher is a name making the rounds, and we wonder if Kirby Dach will follow him. And Patrik Laine, who will be a free agent in 16 days, obviously won't be back.

But Samuel Montembeault, too, has a real chance of leaving. The goaltender was pushed out of the picture for the 2025-26 season, and we can expect the Habs to give him the chance to relaunch his career elsewhere.

Now, what's interesting is that, as Vincent Duquette noted for TVA Sports, the Habs are in a position of strength in this situation. And the reason is quite simple: options are very scarce (and not particularly appealing) for teams looking for help in net.

Sergei Bobrovsky and Stuart Skinner on the free-agent market, Jacob Markström (and Jordan Binnington?) on the trade market… and that's pretty much it.

And suddenly, when you look at all this, you realize that Montembeault is one of the best options available. His 2025-26 season was terrible… but in 2024-25, he was one of the league's top goalies and led the NHL's youngest team to the playoffs.

If a team is confident it can bring out that version of the Quebec native, signing him to a one-year, $3.15 million contract is far from a bad bet.

And following a year in which the vast majority of teams struggled in net at one point or another, we can expect there to be demand for Montembeault's services. The Habs aren't likely to get the moon for his services… but they're still in a position of strength if they decide to trade him.

And generally, when Kent Hughes is in a position of strength in negotiations, it's a situation that more often than not works out well for the Canadiens.


In a nutshell

– Jacob Fowler thanks Habs fans.

– For those wondering, this isn't the Alexandre Carrier who plays for the Habs, hehe.

– Interesting.

– Note.

– Oh really?

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