The Edmonton Oilers goaltending woes has gotten worse as the season progresses. Stuart Skinner stills looks shaky and Calvin Pickard couldn’t carry the Oilers against the Florida Panthers. So far, we’ve heard names like Jordan Binnington, John Gibson, and Juuse Saros, but all three of those goaltenders are playing for teams in contention for a wild card spot in the West, and they’re certainly not gonna help out the Oilers, who are trying to catch up to the St. Louis Blues, Anaheim Ducks, and the Nashville Predators.
What rumours are swirling
It was reported on Saturday Headlines by Elliotte Friedman that the Oilers were looking at the Montreal Canadiens.
“The Oilers were in Montreal this week looking at all three of their goalies (Jake Allen, Sam Montembeault, Cayden Primeau).”
Elliotte Friedman – https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/video/saturday-headlines-flames-captain-backlund-wants-team-to-end-the-noise/
On Monday, Friedman delved further into rumor.
“The Oilers were there to see all three Montreal goalies play. They saw them all.. I think Allen is the least likely of the three…I do think those are two of the guys Edmonton is looking at (Montembeault & Primeau)”
Is Primeau good?
Cayden Primeau was supposed to be the next future starter for the Canadiens. Drafted in the seventh round in 2019, Primeau played amazingly for the Northeastern Huskies. Putting up a .930 SV% or better in two seasons there, the Canadiens gave him his entry-level contract. However, things have gone south since then. In four seasons with the Laval Rocket, Primeau posted a .909 SV% in each season there, with his best season being in a shortened 2020–21 campaign. In 24 NHL games, Primeau has an abysmal 4.09 GAA, .874SV% and a -18.8 GSax. He is absolutely not an upgrade on Skinner and I’d even argue a downgrade on Campbell. Sure, he’s young and cheap, but the Oilers need at the very least a tandem goalie for Skinner.
What about Montembeault?
Sam Montembeault is intriguing. Like Primeau, Montembeault was pegged as the future for Florida, before they signed Sergei Bobrovsky and drafted Spencer Knight. The Becancour, Quebec native was alright during his time in the QMJHL and was below average in the AHL. During his time with Florida, he accumulated a record of 9–8–3 with a goals against average of 3.20 and a save percentage of .892. After being claimed by Montreal just before the 2021–22 season, Montembeault has a record of 27–40–10 in 86 games with a goals against average of 3.50 and a save percentage of .898. Now, why is Montembeault intriguing? Here’s why:
According to Evolving Hockey, Montembeault the last two seasons has a GSAx of 21.26. This is extremely good. While Montembeault’s base stats don’t look great, the numbers show he’s actually making Montreal appear better than they should. Remember, this is combined the last two seasons, and the Habs last year were bottom five in the league. With Montembeault, they legitmately may of been worse than Chicago, San Jose, Columbus, or maybe even Anaheim. His underlyings being that good may mean he’s capable of being a starter on a contending team.
According to MoneyPuck, with his time in Florida, his GSAx was -16.4. With the Canadiens, he’s up to -3.4. However, the low number is due to the 2021–22 season where he was a -17.3. He was a 11.8 last season and is a 2.1 this year. Compared to Skinner’s 6.8 and -7.1, Montembeault may actually be the better goalie.
Will it happen?
I think chances are that the Oilers will have Montembeault in the line-up before the year ends. He’s cheap on the cap, only making $1M and won’t cost a lot in a trade even if they have to dump Campbell in a trade. What do you think Oiler fans?
Stats are from Moneypuck and EvolvingHockey.
Montebault is vastly underrated after playing with five rookie defensemen last year. Primeau is a hot mess.