Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jake Allen had a lot to say about fellow netminder Sam Montembeault after Monday's pre-season game, showing a lot of confidence in the 27-year-old.
Montembeault first became a regular for the Canadiens during the 2021-22 season after two years where he split time between the NHL and AHL. Since then he has developed into a solid goalie for the team, making small improvements every year. Last season was the best of his career statistically as he set career highs in games played, goals-against-average, and save percentage as well as tying his career high for wins with 16. He ended the season with a .903 save percentage, 3.14 GAA, and a 16-15-9 record. Those numbers were around league average, which is good considering the Canadiens were a below average team overall.
Now Montembeault's former goalie partner, Jake Allen, thinks he is ready to take the next step in Montreal. This will have to be the case after the Canadiens traded Allen to the New Jersey Devils last season. This leaves Montembeault as the presumed starter for Montreal, a role Allen thinks he will excel in.
'I believe he should be ready to move to the next level. He's evolving along with the team, and I feel the team is also ready to take the next step.I know it was his first game tonight, and he was excellent. It's only pre-season, but I think he has a lot to prove, in a good way. I believe he absolutely should be considered for a spot with Team Canada, not just for a spot with the Montreal Canadiens, and I think that should be his goal.
Obviously, putting the Habs first, but at the same time, he should aim high.'
Not only does Allen think Montembeault is ready for a full-time starter's job in the NHL, but he even went so far as to say he should be in the conversation for team Canada at international events. Many Canadiens fans seem to agree with this statement and are happy to hear a prominent player in the NHL say this publicly. It certainly should inspire confidence from fans in their netminder at the very least.
With that being said, Montembeault is not the only goalie in Montreal who will be taking a big step forward this season. Kaden Primeau is expected to step into the backup role full-time after 23 appearances last season. Luckily, Canadiens fans seem to be just as confident in him as they are in Montembeault.
So far, Primeau's performance in the pre-season has been perfect, boosting fan confidence even more. While it is a small sample size, he has done all that has been asked for him so far, stopping all 13 shots against him in his first action of the pre-season.
As such, it appears as though the Canadiens are ready to take another step forward as a team this year and their goaltenders will be a big part of that. Should the team overperform expectations, they could even sneak into the playoff discussion with Sam Montembeault leading the way from the crease.
