Trade: Elliotte Friedman reveals the goaltender who is prioritized by Kent Hughes and the Montreal Canadiens

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Elias Edmonson
November 19, 2023 (6:55 PM)

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The goaltending situation is not yet resolved for the Montreal Canadiens.

Martin St-Louis still has to juggle a trio of goalies, and it seems to be an increasingly frustrating situation, judging by his reactions whenever Cayden Primeau takes the net.

Recently, the excellent Elliotte Friedman mentioned on his podcast 32 Thoughts that he believes the solution in this case would be to sign a contract extension with Samuel Montembeault. After signing this pact, Kent Hughes could then proceed with a trade involving either Primeau or Allen.

«The Montreal Canadiens would like to resolve the famous issue of the three goalies soon. One of the ways they believe they can solve this problem is by keeping Montembeault. This would give them more certainty, because if they keep Montembeault, they can then decide what they want to do with the other two, whether they keep Primeau or Allen.» - Elliotte Friedman

So, the priority is Montembeault! Once this issue is resolved, everything could quickly unfold with the other two.

In a recent article with the excellent Arpon Basu for The Athletic, we learned that the CH had begun negotiations with the young goalie's camp. The hosts of the noon show on BPM Sports, Georges Laraque and Stéphane Gonzalez, even engaged in predictions about this future contract. Tony Marinaro also joined in with his prediction.

The former NHL player and Marinaro agree on one point: Montembeault's future contract will not be lower than Jake Allen's current deal (3.85M$/year). So, it will be a pact of about 4M$ per season that will be signed by the Quebec goalie. Even if the two analysts wouldn't give him this amount currently, they think that the CH will have no choice but to offer him something like that.

This will be a file to follow closely over the coming weeks!