Canadiens Goaltending Could Spell Big Trouble

The Montreal Canadiens are just about to emerge from their festive break as they'll be flying out to Florida this morning and then practising at the Florida Panthers practice rink this afternoon at 2:00 PM. The NHL roster freeze won't be over until 12:01 AM tomorrow, when trading activities can resume.

For now though, teams can recall players from their farm team and I wouldn't be surprised if the Canadiens did just that as a temporary fix for their precarious goaltending status. The problem is not Samuel Montembeault, while he has some rough outings early on, since being name to the Team Canada roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, he's been great, but he cannot play all the game.

Related: Sam Montembeault is Being Overused

The issue is backup Cayden Primeau who has only played 11 games this season and hasn't started one since his Dec. 1st 6-3 loss against the Boston Bruins. Right now, the 25-year-old masked man has a 4.70 goals-against average and a .836 save percentage. He's dead last in the NHL in both categories amongst goaltenders who have player more than one game.

His play has meant Montembeault started the last 10 games before the festive break and in his post game media availability, the Quebecer stated his "pads were feeling a bit heavier tonight". That's not an excuse, it's just a perfectly natural result of being overused.

Before the quality of Montembeault's word is affected or worse, before overworking him results in an injury, Canadiens GM Kent Hughes has got to do something. While coach Martin St-Louis refused to answer a question about his level of confidence in Primeau, he kind of answered it by refusing to do so. His actions speaks volume. Starting Montembeault in 10 consecutive games just tells you everything you need to know.

This state of affair cannot be allowed to go on. The Canadiens have a back-to-back on tap when they return to action and their number one goaltender should only play in one of them. That's not to say Primeau should get a start, it's time for Hughes to give the Laval Rocket a call and bring up Jakub Dobes or Connor Hughes.

Related: Canadiens Must Be Careful Not To Overload Montembeault

Both tenders have featured in 14 games for the farm team and they have near identical stats. Hughes has a 2.43 GAA while Dobes' is at 2.44. The latter's SP stands at .910 while the former's .908. Either one of them is deserving of a recall with the big club at least until Primeau has find a way to build up his confidence.

The Habs currently have 22 of the allowed 23 players on roster, so technically, they wouldn't even have to send Primeau down to Laval to be able to recall a goalie, but for his own sake, he has to go down. I've rarely seen such a crisis of confidence and the only way for him to regain at least some confidence is by playing games and not from the bench. Opening the door to the bench is not how he'll feel better about himself.

Of course, a trade post roster freeze would be great, but his value right now wont allow Montreal to get a veteran goaltender who can push Montembeault to be better. That's not to say Hughes won't explore the idea once the roster freeze is lifted, but I fear he'll struggle to find any suitors. There are plenty of people to say the GM shouldn't have traded Jake Allen last season, but given the information Hughes had at the time, trading the veteran was the right move. It's just a shame Primeau has regressed in the way he did.

While he is waivers eligible, it's hard to believe any team would decide to claim him, the way he has performed this season. It's a shame for the Rocket who has a back-to-back against the Syracuse Crunch starting tonight, but one of their goaltender should be on the Canadiens' plane when it takes off from St-Hubert this morning, either one will do.

Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains

Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens