Many wonder if Samuel Montembeault is the goaltender who will take the Canadiens all the way to the playoffs, once the team is more dangerous than it is right now.
Personally, I don’t think so, but we all know that to win, you need a good defense and, above all, a goalie who’s “hot” at the time.
Adin Hill was never seen as an elite or concession goalie, but he was still smoking hot in the playoffs to help the Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup. The same goes for Jordan Binnington (St. Louis Blues) and Darcy Kuemper (Colorado Avalanche), who all took top honours as starting goaltender.
At least the Habs have a backup plan with prospect Jacob Fowler, who has been excellent everywhere he’s been in his young career. And we saw glimpses of him at the end of the season and in the playoffs with the Laval Rocket.
But Montembeault is certainly a very good goalie, and he’s been doing the best he can since joining the Habs.
Jeff Marek, host of The Sheet podcast, talked about Monty in his most recent episode.
According to him, Montembeault is the most underrated goalie in the entire NHL.
If you click on the YouTube video of the episode in question, you’ll be taken directly to the excerpt.
It’s quite a statement from Marek.
And to hear him talk, no goalie comes close to being as underrated as Montembeault: it’s as clear as day, in his words.
This is very positive for the Habs and their fans, because since Carey Price’s last game, many have been wondering about his future in front of the net.
When fans have seen what Carey Price has done over the course of his career without having a really good team in front of him, it’s hard to think of anything better.
But knowing that the Habs have the NHL’s most underrated goaltender, as well as a quality prospect in Jacob Fowler, the future looks rosier than you might think.
Let’s not forget, though, that goalie development takes time, and Fowler won’t be an NHL dominant anytime soon, even though he seems to have fooled the prognosticators throughout his young career.
Let’s wait and see what level Fowler reaches as a goalie, but for now, the Habs have a very good goalie in Montembeault.