There's a possibility that Samuel Montembeault lands elsewhere this offseason, and the talk of the town on Tuesday was the Edmonton Oilers reported interest. Could a deal between the two teams make sense?
On Tuesday morning, BPM Sports reported that, according to Maxime Truman, the Edmonton Oilers had inquired with the Montreal Canadiens about goaltender Samuel Montembeault. While some believe that the Becancour native could still be in Montreal when the puck drops on the next season, some believe that he would greatly benefit from a new start in a new market.
There aren't that many masked men on the free-agent market this year, and things have already started moving when it comes to goaltenders. The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Philadelphia Flyers swapped goalies Joseph Woll and Simon Ersson earlier today in a trade involving other pieces, and, as we know, such moves can create a domino effect.
The Oilers are on the clock to sort out their goaltending issues. Superstar Connor McDavid only signed a two-year contract extension with the team, and it looks more like an ultimatum than a commitment. They thought they might have found an answer when they traded Stuart Skinner for Tristan Jarry with the Pittsburgh Penguins, but the move spectacularly backfired. Jarry only played one game in the playoffs, and he ended his season with a 9-6-2 record, a 3.86 goals-against average, and a .858 save percentage.
While Montembeault struggled this past season, his numbers were still better than that. He finished with a 10-8-4 record, a 3.43 GAA and a .872 SV, and his record was in stark contrast with his previous season, in which he had performed very well, earning a spot on the national team for the 4 Nations Face-Off thanks to a 2.82 GAA and a .902 SV.
The Oilers are not exactly swimming in cap space either, so Montembeault’s $3.15 million contract for a single season certainly wouldn’t be prohibitive. What could the Canadiens realistically ask in return? That’s hard to say, given the goaltender’s recent struggles, but any conversation should start with the rights to Connor Murphy. Edmonton acquired the 33-year-old right-shot defenseman at the trade deadline, and he will hit free agency at the start of July.
In 80 games last season, he put up 17 points and averaged over 20 minutes of ice time with the Oilers. He’s not an offensive dynamo by any means, but he would allow the Canadiens to put Lane Hutson back on his natural side and provide stability on the Habs’ blueline. He could play with either Mike Matheson or Hutson himself, and he would also bring some grit to the table as he has landed a total of 1,662 hits in his 825-career games, including 90 last season. He may be on the wrong side of 30, but he would provide a stop-gap position until David Reinbacher is ready to step into a more important role with the Canadiens.
Of course, acquiring his rights doesn’t mean the Habs would automatically manage to sign him; he would be within his rights to test the free market, but Kent Hughes may just be the man to convince him to forgo that right. He managed to do it with Mike Matheson and Jake Evans after all.
If the deal was to happen and Hughes was able to sell Murphy on what he’s building in Montreal, he would kill two birds with one stone: the congestion in net where he has two promising youngsters in Jakub Dobes and Jacob Fowler on top of Montembeault, and the lack of balance on his blueline while also providing some experience to his young team. There’s no guarantee that this deal could happen, but it could make sense for both parties.
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